Water and Wastewater Use in the Fresh Produce Industry: Food Safety and Environmental Implications

Gil, M.V.; Allende, Ana

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-68177-1_4

Cited by 7 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Based on all these remarks, it seems reasonable to assume, as a first approximation, that nutritional value and health-related properties of fresh-cut products, considered as a whole, are not substantially different than those of the non-processed fresh counterparts. On the contrary, significant differences between fresh-cut F&V and the corresponding non-processed fresh products arise on the side of food safety (Gil et al, 2011;Gil and Allende, 2018) and environmental sustainability of the whole production process (Fusi et al, 2016) and are associated to the processing phase.…”

Section: Preliminary Remarks About the Nutritional Value Of Fresh-cut...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides the above mentioned potential benefits of the availability of fresh-cut F&V on the market, in recent years concerns has been increasingly raised regarding the environmental sustainability of the fresh-cut industry (Manzocco et al, 2015;Ölmez, 2017), along with food safety issues related to fresh-cut produce (Gil et al, 2011;Gil and Allende, 2018). These downsides are mainly associated to the processing phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Raffo

Paoletti

2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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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.

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Section: Preliminary Remarks About the Nutritional Value Of Fresh-cut...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Raffo

Paoletti

2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…Therefore, there is a need to optimize the detection and quantification methods in different matrixes. Process wash water (PWW) has been recognized as one of the relevant vectors of microbial cross-contamination in the agro-food industries (Gil and Allende, 2018). Cross-contamination occurs when a contaminated product is washed and the pathogens are transferred from the contaminated product to the water and from the water to the clean product.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection and Quantification Methods for Viable but Non-culturable (VBNC) Cells in Process Wash Water of Fresh-Cut Produce: Industrial Validation

et al. 2020

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The significance of viable but non-culturable (VBNC) cells in the food industry is not well known, mainly because of the lack of suitable detection methodologies to distinguish them from dead cells. The study aimed at the selection of the method to differentiate dead and VBNC cells of Listeria monocytogenes in process wash water (PWW) from the fruit and vegetable industry. Different methodologies were examined including (i) flow cytometry, (ii) viability quantitative polymerase chain reaction (v-qPCR) using an improved version of the propidium monoazide (PMAxx) dye as DNA amplificatory inhibitor, and (iii) v-qPCR combining ethidium monoazide (EMA) and PMAxx. The results showed that the flow cytometry, although previously recommended, was not a suitable methodology to differentiate between dead and VBNC cells in PWW, probably because of the complex composition of the water, causing interferences and leading to an overestimation of the dead cells. Based on results obtained, the v-qPCR combined with EMA and PMAxx was the most suitable technique for the detection and quantification of VBNC cells in PWW. Concentrations of 10 µM EMA and 75 µM PMAxx incubated at 40 • C for 40 min followed by a 15-min light exposure inhibited most of the qPCR amplification from dead cells. For the first time, this methodology was validated in an industrial processing line for shredded lettuce washed with chlorine (10 mg/L). The analysis of PWW samples allowed the differentiation of dead and VBNC cells. Therefore, this method can be considered as a rapid and reliable one recommended for the detection of VBNC cells in complex water matrixes such as those of the food industry. However, the complete discrimination of dead and VBNC cells was not achieved, which led to a slight overestimation of the percentage of VBNC cells in PWW, mostly, due to the complex composition of this type of water. More studies are needed to determine the significance of VBNC cells in case of potential cross-contamination of fresh produce during washing.

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“…For each of the stakeholder groups, the global performance scores (GP) of the five control strategies were determined, given the performance scores (p) and the averaged weights of the respondents (w). Garrido, Marin, Tudela, Allende and Gil, 2019;Gil and Allende, 2018;Luo, Nou, Yang, Alegre, Turner, Feng, Abadias and Conway, 2011;Tudela, Lopez-Galvez, Allende and Gil, 2019a;Tudela, Lopez-Galvez, Allende, Hernandez, Andujar, Marin, Garrido and Gil, 2019b;.…”

Section: Calculate Overall Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the potential health and environmental concerns from DBP formation, e.g., from trihalomethanes (THMs), makes it more controversial in terms of publichealth compared to other water disinfection technologies Garrido et al, 2019;Tudela et al, 2019a;Tudela et al, 2019b); these aspects were considered for the sub-criterion possible side-effects. Also, free chlorine is reactive with organic matter (Garrido et al, 2019;Luo et al, 2011), more so than chlorine dioxide or peracetic acid , is sensitive to pH Gil and Allende, 2018) and can be corrosive ; these aspects were considered when considering the sub-criterion robustness.…”

Section: Performance Scores Of the Control Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Battling microbes: disinfecting water during fresh-cut lettuce processing

Banach¹

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Fresh leafy greens like lettuce are often consumed raw and can be contaminated by foodborne pathogens. Washing fresh-cut lettuce can help alleviate foodborne outbreaks and diffuse cases, but the washing process must be controlled to avoid pathogenic cross-contamination. The thesis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of chemical disinfection of the water during fresh-cut lettuce washing to reduce pathogenic crosscontamination. First, the effectiveness of chlorine, chlorine dioxide (ClO2), ozone, and peracetic acid (PAA) during produce processing was studied along with legislation and disinfection by-product production. Next, the effectiveness of sodium hypochlorite, ClO2, and a silver-copper solution to reduce Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and pathogenic Escherichia coli were assessed on the laboratory scale. Results showed that the water's organic load, wash water temperature, and pathogenic characteristics influenced the effectiveness. Then, the effectiveness of ClO2 (5 mg/L and 3 mg/L) on reducing supplemented nonpathogenic E. coli during fresh-cut lettuce washing at the industrial scale was studied. Also, the effectiveness of a PAA solution (75 mg/L) on reducing supplemented nonpathogenic E. coli during fresh-cut lettuce washing at the laboratory and industrial scales was studied. The results showed that laboratory experiments disinfecting water with ClO2 and a PAA solution had similar findings, which were also confirmed at the industrial scale. Finally, a multi-criteria decision analysis was applied to a case study to determine the best control strategy during fresh-cut lettuce processing when disinfection was applied directly in the wash tank. Results showed that PAA was the overall preferred control strategy. This proposed disinfection strategy appears to be the right balance between safety and effective fresh-cut produce disinfection. Table of Contents Chapter 1General introduction Chapter 2Effect of disinfectants on preventing the crosscontamination of pathogens in fresh produce washing Chapter 3 The efficacy of chemical sanitizers on the reduction of Salmonella Typhimurium and Escherichia coli affected by bacterial cell history and water quality Chapter 4 Efficacy of chlorine dioxide on Escherichia coli inactivation during pilot-scale fresh-cut lettuce processing Chapter 5 Effectiveness of a peracetic acid solution on Escherichia coli reduction during fresh-cut lettuce processing at the laboratory and industrial scales Chapter 6 Multi-criteria decision analysis to evaluate control strategies for preventing cross-contamination during fresh-cut lettuce washing Chapter 7 General discussion Summary Annexes Acknowledgments, About the author, List of publications, and Overview of completed training activities General introduction 19 Outline of the thesisThis thesis consists of seven chapters, of which Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 focus on the five sub-objectives mentioned above. Chapter 7 presents a synthesis of the findings of this thesis, as well as overall conclusions. Figure 1.6 summarizes the outl...

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Water and Wastewater Use in the Fresh Produce Industry: Food Safety and Environmental Implications

Cited by 7 publications

References 64 publications

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

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

Detection and Quantification Methods for Viable but Non-culturable (VBNC) Cells in Process Wash Water of Fresh-Cut Produce: Industrial Validation

Battling microbes: disinfecting water during fresh-cut lettuce processing

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