Food processing as a risk factor for antimicrobial resistance spread along the food chain

Abstract

Farms and food industries rely to a large extent on the use ofbiocides as disinfectants and other antimicrobial agents andpreservatives with antimicrobial properties in order to providefood of high microbiological quality and safe for consumers.However, in the last decades it has become apparent that long-term sub-lethal exposure to these antimicrobial agents canexert a selective pressure leading to the emergence and spreadof microbial strains with a reduced susceptibility to the usedantimicrobials, which can persistently colonize food-processing environments and recurrently contaminate food. Inaddition, it may induce resistance to unrelated and clinicallyrelevant antibiotics, in a phenomenon known as cross-resistance. This review aims to provide insights on howantimicrobial resistance emergence and spread can beaffected by certain food processing activities and to discussrecent research focused on different pathways through whichbiocides and other antimicrobials could co-select for bacteriaresistant to clinically relevant antibiotics.