By definition, foodborne outbreaks are illnesses affecting two or more people, correlated in terms of space and time, as a result of the ingestion of etiologic agents present in a common food. Ready-to-eat food products are normally subjected to treatments of sanitisation during processing that aims to miminise the microbial load. However, microorganisms have developed mechanisms to withstand adverse environmental conditions and fight for survival, including the ability to reduce their exposure to external attack through reversible modification of the morphology and physiology of their cell. This results in a significant change of their viability, which becomes undetectable through conventional culture techniques. Subsequent ‘resuscitation’ of these organisms in favourable food environment can represent a serious public health risk.

This review aims to examine the existing experimental evidence on the role of different sanitising approaches in inducing ‘viable but nonculturable’ state in microorganism and discuss possible approaches to reduce its occurrence.

从定义上讲，食源性暴发是由于摄入普通食物中的病原体而影响到两个或两个以上人的疾病，在空间和时间上相关。即食食品通常在加工过程中经过旨在减少微生物负荷的消毒处理。但是，微生物已经开发出抵御不利环境条件并为生存而战的机制，包括通过可逆地改变其细胞的形态和生理来减少其暴露于外部攻击的能力。这导致它们的生存能力发生重大变化，而这是常规培养技术无法检测到的。随后在有利的食物环境中对这些生物进行“复苏”可能会构成严重的公共健康风险。

这项审查旨在检查现有的实验证据，说明不同消毒方法在诱导微生物中“存活但不可培养”的状态中的作用，并讨论减少其发生的可能方法。