Fresh-Cut Vegetables Processing: Environmental Sustainability and Food Safety Issues in a Comprehensive Perspective

Abstract

The fresh-cut industry supplies the food market with healthy fresh fruit and vegetables and, in that way, may contribute to improve the nutritional status of the general population. On the other hand, over the last few years increasing concerns have been raised regarding the environmental impact of the fresh-cut industry, human health risks from exposure to disinfection by-products found in fresh-cut products and chlorine-based disinfection treatments during produce processing. This review provides a comprehensive view of the main interlinked aspects related to food safety and environmental impact of processing of fresh-cut vegetables. Advantages and downsides of the mainstream disinfection strategy, based on the use of chlorine-related disinfecting agents, along with some alternative treatments close to a wide commercial application, are discussed. Limitation in the application of these strategies to processing of organic fresh-cut produce are also highlighted, examining the specific environmental and food safety problems in the organic sector. Areas where lack of available information hinders at present a clear understanding of priorities of research and action are pointed out. Innovative conceptual tools are proposed to address these multiple and interlinking issues and to overcome limitations of currently available technologies. A comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach is suggested to move toward a more safe and environmentally sustainable production of fresh-cut products.

Applications of Essential Oils as Antibacterial Agents in Minimally Processed Fruits and Vegetables—A Review

“…Currently, the most commonly used disinfection methods are chlorine-based [32,33], with chlorinated water being the usual selection used to disinfect MPFV due to its low cost and simplicity of use [32,33]. The effectiveness of decontamination, per se, is measured by the reduction of microorganisms obtained and, more importantly, by the ability to maintain this reduction over the product's shelf-life.…”

“…The effectiveness of decontamination, per se, is measured by the reduction of microorganisms obtained and, more importantly, by the ability to maintain this reduction over the product's shelf-life. However, active chlorine is not very effective since its disinfecting power is short-lived and the surviving bacterial populations can actually multiply faster than the corresponding populations in non-disinfected products [33,34]. Furthermore, chlorine can be harmful due to the formation of toxic derivatives, such as trihalomethane and chloramine.…”

“…Furthermore, chlorine can be harmful due to the formation of toxic derivatives, such as trihalomethane and chloramine. Hence, there are health concerns associated with its use, which has led to restrictions on its use in several European countries, namely the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Swiss, Denmark, and Belgium [22,24,33,[35][36][37][38].…”

Multi-Target Alternative Approaches to Promoting Fresh-Cut Carrots’ Bioactive and Fresh-like Quality

“…Fresh-cut (FC) fruits and vegetables help meet consumer needs, and the FC market still continues to grow in developed countries, as they are convenient and ready-to-eat and retain close to fresh-like nutritional and sensory quality [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. However, environmental sustainability (e.g., excessive water and chemical usage) and product safety issues (risk of pathogen contamination and growth) [ 6 ] in the FC industry have come into the spotlight.…”

“…However, environmental sustainability (e.g., excessive water and chemical usage) and product safety issues (risk of pathogen contamination and growth) [ 6 ] in the FC industry have come into the spotlight. These drawbacks are primarily associated with minimal processing operations [ 5 ].…”