Status of Microbial Modeling in Food Process Models

ABSTRACT: Food process models are typically aimed at improving process design or operation by optimizing some physical or chemical outcome, such as maximizing processing yield, minimizing energy usage, or maximizing nutrient retention. However, in seeking to achieve these objectives, one of the critical constraints is usually microbiological. For example, growth of pathogens or spoilage organisms must be held below a certain level, or pathogen reduction for a kill step must achieve a certain target. Therefore, mathematical models for microbial populations subjected to food processing operations are essential elements of the broader field of food process modeling. However, the complexity of the underlying biological phenomena presents special challenges in formulating, validating, and applying microbial models to real‐world applications. In that context, the narrow purpose of this article is to (1) outline the general terminology and constructs of microbial models, (2) evaluate the state of knowledge/state of the art in application of these models, and (3) offer observations about current limitations and future opportunities in the area of predictive microbiology for food process modeling.