Resistance and Adaptation to Food Antimicrobials, Sanitizers, and Other Process Controls

Most antimicrobials used in food manufacture have been in use for about 50 to 100 years. A few antimicrobials, e.g., sulfites and nitrites, have been in use for an even longer period of time. Similarly, sanitizing agents, used to reduce microorganisms on processing equipment, have been in use for nearly 100 years. Concern has been recently raised, however, about the potential for target pathogenic microorganisms to develop resistance to these compounds.

Surprisingly, despite the considerable leng…