International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Review Microbial Biofilms in the Food Industry—A Comprehensive Review Conrado Carrascosa 1,*, Dele Raheem 2 , Fernando Ramos 3,4 , Ariana Saraiva 1 and António Raposo 5,* 1 Department of Animal Pathology and Production, Bromatology and Food Technology, Faculty of Veterinary, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Trasmontaña s/n, 35413 Arucas, Spain;
[email protected] 2 Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (NIEM), Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland; braheem@ulapland.fi 3 Pharmacy Faculty, University of Coimbra, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal;
[email protected] 4 REQUIMTE/LAQV, R. D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142 Oporto, Portugal 5 CBIOS (Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies), Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal * Correspondence:
[email protected] (C.C.);
[email protected] (A.R.) Abstract: Biofilms, present as microorganisms and surviving on surfaces, can increase food cross- contamination, leading to changes in the food industry’s cleaning and disinfection dynamics. Biofilm is an association of microorganisms that is irreversibly linked with a surface, contained in an ex- tracellular polymeric substance matrix, which poses a formidable challenge for food industries. To avoid biofilms from forming, and to eliminate them from reversible attachment and irreversible stages, where attached microorganisms improve surface adhesion, a strong disinfectant is required to eliminate bacterial attachments. This review paper tackles biofilm problems from all perspec- tives, including biofilm-forming pathogens in the food industry, disinfectant resistance of biofilm, Citation: Carrascosa, C.; Raheem, D.; and identification methods.