Use of hyperspectral imaging for the early detection of foodborne pathogens

Pathogenic food microbes pose a serious threat to global health, leading to widespread disease outbreaks, economic losses, and disruptions in the food processing and distribution chain. Current detection methods for infectious agents, including conventional culturing and genotypic techniques, are accurate but often face limitations such as costly equipment, the need for specialized personnel, and lengthy analysis times. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) has emerged as a promising alternative that provides a fast, non-invasive, and high-throughput approach for early identification of pathogenic food microbes. HSI combines spatial and spectral characterization to deliver information across a broad wavelength range. This technology enables the recognition and identification of microbial agents by analyzing their unique spectral fingerprints, which reflect the biochemical and physical properties of bacteria, fungi, and viruses in various food matrices, including raw produce, animal protein, and milk-based foods. A typical HSI system can acquire a complete spectral cube in less than a minute per sample, capturing 100-300 contiguous spectral bands across the visible to near-infrared range, thus enabling rapid and comprehensive microbial screening. This review highlights several foodborne pathogens and the strong applicability of HSI for their identification. Additionally, it discusses recent trends, suggests future directions, and emphasizes AI adoption along with the development of portable HSI devices for on-site food safety assessment.