Microbial Survey of Selected Ontario-Grown Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Arthur, Lindsay; Jones, Sandra C.; Fabri, Martha; Odumeru, Joseph A.

doi:10.4315/0362-028x-70.12.2864

Cited by 66 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Surveys on the type and concentrations of pathogens on vegetables and their survival under natural field conditions are still scarce, although increasing (38). The reported level of human pathogens in produce seems to vary considerably, e.g., between regions (3,32,41,50). It is uncertain as to what extent pathogens present in the soil can become internalized into the plant through the root system or be transferred to leaf surfaces through rain splash, with possible internalization via leaf orifices, but both transmission routes constitute potential food safety risks for consumers (6,16,37,46).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Escherichia coli Contamination of Lettuce Grown in Soils Amended with Animal Slurry

Jensen¹,

Storm²,

Forslund³

et al. 2013

Journal of Food Protection

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A pilot study was conducted to assess the transfer of Escherichia coli from animal slurry fertilizer to lettuce, with E. coli serving as an indicator of fecal contamination and as an indicator for potential bacterial enteric pathogens. Animal slurry was applied as fertilizer to three Danish agricultural fields prior to the planting of lettuce seedlings. At harvest, leaves (25 g) of 10 lettuce heads were pooled into one sample unit (n = 147). Soil samples (100 g) were collected from one field before slurry application and four times during the growth period (n = 75). E. coli was enumerated in slurry, soil, and lettuce on 3M Petrifilm Select E. coli Count Plates containing 16 mg/liter streptomycin, 16 mg/liter ampicillin, or no antimicrobial agent. Selected E. coli isolates (n = 83) originating from the slurry, soil, and lettuce were genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to determine the similarity of isolates. The slurry applied to the fields contained 3.0 to 4.5 log CFU/g E. coli. E. coli was found in 36 to 54% of the lettuce samples, streptomycin-resistant E. coli was found in 10.0 to 18.0% of the lettuce samples, and ampicillin-resistant E. coli in 0 to 2.0% of the lettuce samples (the detection limit was 1 log CFU/g). The concentration of E. coli exceeded 2 log CFU/g in 19.0% of the lettuce samples. No E. coli was detected in the soil before the slurry was applied, but after, E. coli was present until the last sampling day (harvest), when 10 of 15 soil samples contained E. coli. A relatively higher frequency of E. coli in lettuce compared with the soil samples at harvest suggests environmental sources of fecal contamination, e.g., wildlife. The higher frequency was supported by the finding of 21 different PFGE types among the E. coli isolates, with only a few common PFGE types between slurry, soil, and lettuce. The frequent finding of fecal-contaminated lettuce indicates that human pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter can be present and represent food safety hazards.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Escherichia coli Contamination of Lettuce Grown in Soils Amended with Animal Slurry

Jensen¹,

Storm²,

Forslund³

et al. 2013

Journal of Food Protection

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“…The presence of these human pathogens was also reported on fruits and vegetables (including tomatoes and peppers) in the market place (Arthur et al, 2007;Benjamin et al, 2013;Gallegos-Robles et al, 2008;Greene et al, 2008;Guchi and Ashenafi, 2010;Micallef et al, 2012;Weber et al, 2006;Butterfield, 1997, 1999). Even though human pathogens are fairly uncommon in the crop production environment, fresh produce has been implicated in at least 130 outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the U.S. since 1996.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Effect of the irrigation regime on the susceptibility of pepper and tomato to post-harvest proliferation of Salmonella enterica

et al. 2015

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“…Surveys designed to evaluate the microbial safety of fresh fruits and vegetables indicate that few samples test positive for foodborne pathogens (Abadia et al, 2008;Arthur et al, 2007;Smith DeWaal and Glassman, 2013). No E. coli O157:H7 was isolated from lettuce purchased in retail establishments in Canada, Spain, and the United States (Abadia et al, 2008;Arthur et al, 2007;FDA/CFSAN, 2004).…”

Section: Outbreaks Associated With Leafy Greensmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…No E. coli O157:H7 was isolated from lettuce purchased in retail establishments in Canada, Spain, and the United States (Abadia et al, 2008;Arthur et al, 2007;FDA/CFSAN, 2004). In each of the studies, Salmonella was associated with only one lettuce sample.…”

Section: Outbreaks Associated With Leafy Greensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salmonella and Tomatoes

Bartz¹,

Marvasi²,

Teplitski³

2014

The Produce Contamination Problem

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Academic Press is an imprint of ElsevierNo part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier's Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone (+44) (0) 1865 843830; fax (+44) (0) 1865 853333; email: permissions@elsevier.com. Alternatively you can submit your request online by visiting the Elsevier web site at http://elsevier.com/locate/permissions, and selecting Obtaining permission to use Elsevier material NoticeNo responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataA catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Printed and bound in the United States PART 3 CONTAMINATION AVOIDANCE PRE AND POSTHARVEST CHAPTER 15 Produce Contamination Issues in Mexico and CHAPTER 16 Regulatory Issues in Europe RegardingFresh PART 4 TECHNOLOGY FOR REDUCTION OF HUMAN PATHOGENS IN FRESH PRODUCE PrefaceThe premise of the book is that once human pathogen contamination of fresh produce occurs, it is extremely difficult to reduce pathogen levels sufficiently with currently available technologies based on washing with sanitizing agents to assure microbiological safety. Outbreaks since the first edition of this book was published have been attributed to consumption of fresh commodities including but not limited to cantaloupes, mangoes, tomatoes, seed sprouts, and salad greens. Globally extensive research, published in thousands of scientific papers and documents, has focused on the microbiological safety of fresh produce. Disinfection methods whether conventional or based on new innovative technology fail to reduce pathogen loads on produce to levels consistent with product safety.Produce decontamination methods are surprisingly similar in the level of reductions in pathogens they achieve. Methods that are effective, irradiation and high pressure, are either not accepted by a large segment of consumers or not practical for all types of fresh produce. The intrinsic interaction of microbes with plant tissues, internalization, biofilm formation, and association with inaccessible sites contributes to the insufficient reduction in microbial populations to assure product safety. The key to improving the microbial safety of fresh products is the development of wiser strategies to avoid human pathogen contamination of the products rather than focusing on disinfect...

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Microbial Survey of Selected Ontario-Grown Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Cited by 66 publications

References 7 publications

Escherichia coli Contamination of Lettuce Grown in Soils Amended with Animal Slurry

Escherichia coli Contamination of Lettuce Grown in Soils Amended with Animal Slurry

Effect of the irrigation regime on the susceptibility of pepper and tomato to post-harvest proliferation of Salmonella enterica

Salmonella and Tomatoes

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