The quality offoodcan be adversely affected by physical,
chemical, biochemicaland microbiologicalprocesses.
Quality deteriorationcaused bymicroorganisms may
include a wide range oftypes of spoilage thatare
undesirable commercially, because they limit shelf life or
leadtoquality complaints, but are safe from a public health
pointof view. More seriously, the presence orgrowthof
infectiousortoxinogenicmicroorganisms (foodborne
pathogens) representthe worstforms of qualitydeterioration,
because theythreatenthe health of the consumer (ICMSF,
1996). Therefore, while the aimof effective food
preservationis tocontrol all forms ofquality deterioration,
the overriding priority is always to minimize the potential
for the occurrence and growth offoodspoilageandfood
poisoningmicroorganisms(ICMSF, 1996).