ABSTRACT
During the preparation of this book, Germany faced one of the largest and worst Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreaks in history. After a long and arduous investigation, where a range of food products from different countries were initially implicated, the source of contamination was eventually identied as fenugreek sprouts grown from contaminated imported seeds. This is just one example of a series of foodborne disease outbreaks associated with food that are discussed in this book. Microbial hazards have always posed a challenge, and emerging pathogens will continue to be added to the list of agents that have the potential to cause harm.
