Infrared spectroscopy detection coupled to chemometrics to characterize foodborne pathogens at a subspecies level

According to the World Health Organization, foodborne and waterborne diseases kill about 2.2 million people annually and are an important cause of mortality and morbidity. Amongst the most dangerous foodborne diseases and foodborne pathogens are: bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Campylobacter, Shigella, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli infections and Salmonellosis. To trengthen surveillance systems and effective characterization methods of these pathogens are a public health priority. Infrared spectroscopy (near infrared or mid infrared spectroscopy) is currently one of the most effective, quick and low-cost techniques for detection of these foodborne pathogens in a nondestructive way. Due to the huge amount of data generated by spectroscopic techniques, appropriate mathematical tools are needed to extract the relevant information for the analysis. The development of computers hardware and increasingly sophisticated chemometric tools place spectroscopy on top in bacterial identification and characterization of foodborne pathogens.