The global incidence of food-borne disease outbreaks is on the rise, partly due to the increased demand for street foods, minimally processed, ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables, and raw or undercooked fish, seafood, meat and poultry. Additionally, trading of contaminated foods between countries increases the risk of these outbreaks spreading.

The establishment of methodical programs like good agricultural practices, good manufacturing practices, hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) or food code indicating approaches has significantly reduced the presence of pathogenic organisms in food, especially in developed countries. 

However, the employment of pathogen detection technology is vital to track and prevent health and safety issues. In this article, we will describe the main challenges faced by food-borne pathogen detection and review the cultivation techniques allowing for the detection of the most common pathogen microorganisms.