This article presents a brief overview of the origins and development of food microbiology. It emphasizes the very applied nature of the subject with its objective of supplying safe, stable, reliable and nutritious foods, and discusses how this has influenced the subject as it has developed and appears today. In particular, the seemingly eclectic nature of the subject is a reflection of the practical need to embrace and draw from a wide range of disciplines to deliver the fundamental understanding of foodborne microorganisms, their behavior and ecology, analytical tools to determine their presence and significance, and management tools such as hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) to control them.