Our main goal is to control emergence and evolution of stress-resistant pathogens in real foods and, therefore, to improve food safety. The response of E.coli (both pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains) is complex, robust, and versatile. Bacterial stress adaptation of E. coli to novel technologies and the potential for stress-associated enhanced virulence need to be addressed in more detail to prevent potential risk of disease. An increased understanding of mechanisms and regulation of the stress adaptation of E. coli O157: H7 will provide information for pathogenic control, increase effective design of novel control methods and in crease microbial safety of foods. Phenotypic and genotypic char- acterization of the stress response in E. coli O157: H7 will enable the development of new strategies to control or diminish the virulence of this pathogen in contaminated foods.