Microbial Food Safety at the Nutrition Interface: Impacts on Public Health Outcomes, Risk Communication, and Food System Resilience

In today's increasingly interconnected food systems, the boundary between microbial food safety and human nutrition is becoming more intertwined. Foodborne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli pose acute health risks, particularly to vulnerable populations with compromised immune systems. Viruses such as coronavirus not only cause immediate symptoms and long-term health consequences but also contribute to changes in consumer behaviors, eating habits, and exacerbate food insecurity. As the global community works to achieve nutritional and public health goals, it is critical to integrate food safety considerations into the broader nutrition and health agenda.

This research topic aims to explore the interactions between microbial food safety, human nutrition, and consumer health outcomes. While nutrition research today often emphasizes dietary quality and chronic disease—frequently based on animal models—less attention has been paid to exploring how microbial contamination of food and the risk of foodborne diseases impact human nutrition and food security.

Recent advancements in pathogen surveillance, molecular diagnostics, predictive microbiology, regulatory policies, as well as information-sharing social platforms, have improved the accessibility of food safety knowledge among consumers and food handlers, with an expected reducing effect on microbial food safety risks and a promotion of public health. Food labeling also plays an increasingly important role in shaping consumers’ behavior. Labels such as ‘Do Not Eat Raw,’ ‘Keep Refrigerated/Frozen,’ or ‘Use by’ provide direct safety guidance, while nutritional facts, allergen declarations, and origin claims (e.g., organic, locally grown, farm-raised) influence food selection decision-making and consumer nutrition outcomes. However, despite its growing relevance, little is known about the translation of these advances in food safety and surveillance into improved public health benefits, consumer safety, and more resilient, equitable food systems across regions and populations. The intersection of food safety perception, food labeling, and nutritional behavior also remains largely underexplored.

This collection seeks to highlight research that focuses on both upstream and downstream factors—ranging from food production and handling to consumer behavior and regulatory frameworks—that influence the microbial safety, human nutrition, and public health impacts of food. Through this initiative, we aim to promote interdisciplinary research that contributes to global food safety, public health, and nutrition goals.

We invite interdisciplinary submissions that explore the relationship between microbial contamination, consumer health, food labeling, and nutrition from multiple perspectives. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Surveillance of foodborne pathogens and outbreak trends, including the associated health and nutritional outcomes;
• Regulatory responses to foodborne illness outbreaks and their implications for food access and safety;
• Consumer knowledge, behavior, eating habits, and risk perception related to food safety and nutritional trends;
• The role of food labeling in shaping food safety perception, risk avoidance, and nutrition-related decision-making;
• Microbial risks in immunocompromised and nutritionally vulnerable populations;
• Innovations in food safety interventions and sustainable food processing, preservation, or labeling/packaging that preserve or enhance food nutritional quality.

We encourage original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, and perspectives. Manuscripts that integrate food microbiology, nutritional science, public health, epidemiology, food policy, labeling practices, machine learning, or predictive modeling are especially encouraged.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: microbial food safety, nutrition and public health, foodborne pathogens, consumer behavior, food security, risk communication, food labeling

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.