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Microbial food spoilage: impact, causative agents and control strategies

Nature Reviews Microbiology (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Microbial food spoilage is a major contributor to food waste and, hence, to the negative environmental sustainability impacts of food production and processing. Globally, it is estimated that 15–20% of food is wasted, with waste, by definition, occurring after primary production and harvesting (for example, in households and food service establishments). Although the causative agents of food spoilage are diverse, many microorganisms are major contributors across different types of foods. For example, the genus Pseudomonas causes spoilage in various raw and ready-to-eat foods. Aerobic sporeformers (for example, members of the genera Bacillus, Paenibacillus and Alicyclobacillus) cause spoilage across various foods and beverages, whereas anaerobic sporeformers (for example, Clostridiales) cause spoilage in a range of products that present low-oxygen environments. Fungi are also important spoilage microorganisms, including in products that are not susceptible to bacterial spoilage due to their low water activity or low pH. Strategies that can reduce spoilage include improved control of spoilage microorganisms in raw material and environmental sources as well as application of microbicidal or microbiostatic strategies (for example, to products and packaging). Emerging tools (for example, systems models and improved genomic tools) represent an opportunity for rational design of systems, processes and products that minimize microbial food spoilage.

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Fig. 1: Mechanisms of microbial food spoilage.
Fig. 2: Causative spoilage microorganisms and spoilage symptoms associated with various food products.
Fig. 3: Introduction routes of spoilage microorganisms.
Fig. 4: Modelling tools and digital twins, and their application to predict spoilage, shelf life and intervention effectiveness along the food production and processing continuum.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funding from the Walmart Foundation (Award number: 43546289); the funder was not involved in the study design, writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. The authors thank R. Lee for valuable support with citations and manuscript preparation, and L. Qian for help with preparation of Fig. 4.

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  1. Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Abigail B. Snyder, Nicole Martin & Martin Wiedmann

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Snyder, A.B., Martin, N. & Wiedmann, M. Microbial food spoilage: impact, causative agents and control strategies. Nat Rev Microbiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01037-x

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