- Abigail B Snyder: 1 Department of Extension, The Ohio State University, 1680 Madison Avenue, Wooster, Ohio 44691.
- Randy W Worobo: 2 Department of Food Science, Cornell University, 411 Tower Road, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
Food processing, packaging, and formulation strategies are often specifically designed to inhibit or control microbial growth to prevent spoilage. Some of the most restrictive strategies rely solely or on combinations of pH reduction, preservatives, water activity limitation, control of oxygen tension, thermal processing, and hermetic packaging. In concert, these strategies are used to inactivate potential spoilage microorganisms or inhibit their growth. However, for select microbes that can overcome these controls, the lack of competition from additional background microbiota helps facilitate their propagation.