Staphylococcal Food Poisoning

Staphylococcal enterotoxins, produced by Staphylococcus aureusand few other species of coagulase positive staphylococci (CPS), are the etiological agents of the staphylococcal food poisoning, one of the most widespread foodborne intoxications. In this book chapter, we will provide an overview on the staphylococcal food poisoning and its causative agents. We will describe the most used culture-dependent and -independent methods to quantitatively detect CPS, or even the most attractive for their future exploitation, providing the reader with new insights on how and when they can be exploited to ensure the identification, quantitative detection and typing of these important pathogenic bacteria. Moreover, classical and advanced methods to quantitatively detect staphylococcal enterotoxins will be provided. Finally, the most promising strategies to mitigate the relevant microbiological risk will be reviewed.