The consumers' increasing demand for increased food quality improvement
focuses mainly on lower preservative and other chemical
contents. The production of minimally processed, pre-packed, readyto-
eat fruits and vegetables or salads has also increased rapidly in recent
years. Prevention of food-borne infections requires permanent care
starting fromthe acquisition of rawfoodmaterials to food consumption
by consumers. A number of methods limiting microbial contamination
are used in food production, based on changing the properties of foods
such as water content or pH, on diverse methods of heating and on
the effect of various types of radiation or high pressure. These methods
provide good results in a number of cases, however, sometimes they are
expensive, there is a lack of effectiveness, or they are too slow. Some
methods, moreover, adversely alter food properties such as color, taste
and smell, or damage their structure. Other adverse effects sometimes
occur, namely a decrease of the valuable nutritive content, or even the
formation of toxic by-products. The disadvantages of the methods
used so far initiated a search for new approaches