Abstract:

Escherichia coli can sense environmental signals and respond quickly to the changing environment. Therefore,
during food processing and storage, the response of E. coli to physical and chemical stress enables them to survive and
maintain virulence, which poses a great threat to food safety. This paper is focused on summarizing the molecular and
physiological response of E. coli to common stress factors during food processing and storage and its application in the food
industry, including heat shock, cold shock, desiccation, hyperosmotic stress, antimicrobial peptides and acid stress. The
future research direction in this area is also discussed.

Key words: Escherichia coli, food processing and storage, stress factors, response mechanism