Listeria monocytogenes, in fresh and ready‐to‐eat produce such as whole fresh apples, is of concern as there is no “kill step” in their packing process that would eliminate the pathogenic bacteria. Recent listeriosis outbreaks revealed that insufficient cleaning and sanitation practices in fresh apple packing houses may lead to contamination of fruit with L. monocytogenes. This article discusses three fundamental aspects for ensuring microbiological safety of fresh apples: protection of fresh apples from microbial contamination during the packing process, decontamination intervention techniques, and the challenges in removal of L. monocytogenes from fresh apples. Currently used and novel methods of fresh produce decontamination are discussed and evaluated on their usefulness for the apple packing process. Additionally, present regulatory requirements, possible routes of produce contamination, and bacteria attachment and survival mechanisms are described. Optimum methods for microbial decontamination of whole fresh apples are still to be determined. Critical aspects that should be considered in developing the interventions include apple morphology, conditions and scale of the packing process, and influence of the interventions on apple quality. Evaluation of the currently used and emerging decontamination methods indicated that the hurdle technology and rotating use of sanitizers to avoid development of bacterial biofilm resistance may give the best results, although not conclusively.

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Ten advanced breeding lines of quinoa were evaluated for their physicochemical and functional characteristics. These novel breeding lines were used in two model foods, including cookies and cooked grains, to understand the influence of their characteristics on the product quality. The cookies were baked using whole quinoa flour, and the quality attributes of texture, physical dimensions, and color were measured. The whole quinoa grains were cooked with water at a 1:4 (w/w) grain‐to‐water ratio, and quality attributes including water uptake (WU‐G), bulk density (BD‐G), and cooking loss (CL‐G) were measured. Significant differences in the quality of both products as an impact of the breeding lines were observed. In baked cookies, the WAQ2 variety produced cookies with the lowest diameter, whereas cookies prepared with WAQ1 were significantly softer than other varieties. In terms of cooked quinoa, WAQ8 exhibited the highest WU‐G while WAQ1 showed the highest CL‐G. Correlations were observed between flour characteristics and final product quality. Cookie height was negatively correlated with protein content, whereas the water solubility index (WSI) of flours had a positive effect on the cookie hardness. The cooking characteristics of quinoa grains were found to be correlated with the thermal properties of whole quinoa flour. The results of this study will help determine the advanced breeding lines for release as commercial varieties and will also provide food processors with information to find suitable quinoa varieties for different food applications. Practical Application New quinoa breeding lines have been developed to be grown in the climate conditions of Washington State. These varieties were characterized to find correlations with food quality for cookies and cooked grains. The results from this study will help farmers navigate among the quinoa varieties and help commercial food producers use the optimal quinoa variety for their specific food products.