[Excerpt] Introduction: Low-moisture foods (LMFs) are characterized by the inherent low water activity (aw), which inhibits the growth of foodborne pathogens. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines foods with an aw ≤ 0.85 as LMFs (FDA, 2025). Low aw foods typically have increased tolerance to heat and other treatments, making pathogen lethality more difficult to achieve. In many LMF products, it is almost impossible to eliminate pathogens without compromising sensory and quality attributes. Consequently, control strategies should concentrate on preventing contamination. Control measures should include effective cleaning and sanitation programs, hygienic design, and zoning (Beuchat, 2013). In recent years, concerns surrounding LMF safety have intensified, driven by a growing number of large scale outbreaks and recalls across a wide range of product categories (Acuff et al., 2023). Notable events illustrating this trend include outbreaks of Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) associated with soy nut butter in 2017 (Hassan et al., 2019) and with flour in 2021 (CDC, 2021); the 2015–2016 Salmonella Virchow outbreak linked to a powdered meal replacement product (Gambino-Shirley et al., 2018); and the 2022 Cronobacter sakazakii contamination event involving infant formula (FDA, 2022).