The need to improve the safety/quality of food and the health of the hosts has resulted in increasing worldwide interest in acidophilic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for the food, livestock as well as health industries. In addition to the use of acidophilic LAB with probiotic potential for food fermentation and preservation, their application in the natural disposal of acidic wastes polluting the environment is also being investigated. Considering this new benefit that has been assigned to probiotic microorganisms in recent years, the acceleration in efforts to identify new, efficient, promising probiotic acidophilic LAB is not surprising. One of these effots is to determine both the beneficial and harmful compounds synthesized by acidophilic LAB. Moreover, microorganisms are of concern due to their possible hemolytic, DNase, gelatinase and mucinolytic activities, and the presence of virulence/antibiotic genes. Hence, it is argued that acidophilic LAB should be evaluated for these parameters before their use in the health/food/livestock industry. However, this issue has not yet been fully discussed in the literature. Thus, this review pays attention to the less-known aspects of acidophilic LAB and the compounds they release, clarifying critical unanswered questions, and discussing their health benefits and safety.

N-nitrosamines are harmful components that can be formed in processed meat products. Due to its production technique, salami is an important meat product in terms of volatile N-nitrosamines. In this regard, the presence of volatile N-nitrosamines, which may pose a risk for human health, was investigated in salami. N-nitrosamines were extracted from the salami and determined with a validated GC-MS method. Accordingly, the analysed samples of salami contained 7.86–29.11 ppb total volatile N-nitrosamines. The salami brand affected the type and level of N-nitrosamines (P <,005).

This editorial examines the shift of the primary focus in food science from the historically dominant paradigms of “Food Safety” and “Food Security” towards “Safe and Sustainable Food Systems” in response to changing global dynamics and crises. The 20th century, shaped by achievements such as the Green Revolution and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), focused on producing plentiful and safe food, but has reached its ecological limits due to intensive use of resources and environmental costs. Today, global supply chains, the climate crisis (with food systems being a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions), resource constraints, and consumer awareness (food waste, animal welfare, ethical demands) are pushing this discipline toward a “sustainability” focus. Food safety and sustainability are now inseparable disciplines; climate change alters food safety risk maps, and food waste is now recognized as a fundamental safety issue. The future of food science aims to develop ethical and sustainable production processes. Areas of solution include Digitalization and Resource Efficiency (Precision Agriculture, Vertical Farming), The Protein Revolution and Alternative Sources (Plant-Based Foods, Cellular Agriculture, Insects), and Circular Economy and Waste Management (Upcycling, Bio-Packaging). Success requires a systemic transformation covering the entire food system (agriculture, processing, distribution, consumption, waste management) and the holistic consideration of planetary health and human nutrition under the “One Health” approach. Sustainability (meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs) has become the primary priority of food science.

Meat and meat products are the basic building blocks of nutrition and are recognized as good sources of high biological value proteins, group B vitamins, minerals as well as some other bioactive compounds. The trend today is the development of novel food for special health use, called functional food, to promote human health and well-being of consumers. The trends are based on either reducing the content of unhealthy substances (like salt) or improving the content of substances with healthy benefits (like probiotics). Thus, it may also change the perspective of consumers towards meat products which associated with coronary artery disease. Meat is an ideal structure for probiotic microorganisms. Probiotic meat products are obtained by addition of probiotic to fermented meat products. These probiotic meat products are offered both healthy and improved taste and flavor, but also as safe food to consumer. Thus, when these probiotic meat products ensure flavor and nutritional to consumers, additionally they have a positive impact on their health.