Editorial: Trigger the microbiome changes in foods via metagenomic technologies: from diagnostic to potential changes in product safety or quality risk profiles

Food safety, Food quality, Antibiotic resistant genes (ARG), Metal resistant genes (MRG), Fruits, VegetablesFrom raw agricultural inputs to the finished consumer product, the microbial communities of 20 our food production systems are a crucial factor in determining both quality and safety. For 21 many years, food safety diagnostics relied on labor-intensive, culture-based techniques that 22 only captured a small portion of the microbial reality. However, the integration of metagenomic 23 technologies to accurately characterize entire food microbiomes is on the verge of a disruptive 24 revolution, as demonstrated by the studies gathered in this Research Topic. The use of 25 metagenomic technologies offers unmatched chances for proactive risk assessment and quality 26 control by taking us beyond straightforward hazard detection and toward a comprehensive 27 understanding of the microbial mechanisms that determine the quality of our food. Metagenomics is useful for much more than just diagnostics; it gives us the information we 50 need to better understand the fundamental processes that underlie the emergence and spread of 51 microorganisms. With microbial interactions in mind, metagenomics enables a system-wide 52 understanding of interrelationships rather than approaching food safety as a linear "hazard-by-53 these technologies generate increasingly massive and complex datasets, the integration of 87 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will become essential for predictive 88 modeling of pathogen risk or fermentation outcomes. Furthermore, these techniques are 89 expanding into new domains, such as the use of metabarcoding for food authentication to 90 combat fraud and ensure traceability. This Research Topic thus provides a snapshot of a field 91 in rapid transition: from cataloging microbes to understanding their function, and from reactive 92 diagnostics to a predictive, system-wide science.