ABSTRACT
Demand of more foods has been addressed in many forums due to increase in human populations. Production of more food raises its quality issues. The key for the successful provision of quality foods has depended on the availability of technologies to produce and preserve
foods. More recently, the increase in the consumption of fresh-cut and leafy green (such as carrots, celery, and spinach) products that are usually consumed raw, have created a similar scenario where the industry and the government have to work on the appropriate minimum set of regulations to be put in place to control the occurrence of food borne diseases associated with these products. Several crucial changes have occurred in agricultural practices in the last 50 years. Food distribution has increased to cover large areas, and even different countries, it has become more difficult to keep track of where the food was produced and processed. In some cases, food is transported across different countries Therefore, a bacterial pathogen unique to some specific areas in the world may end up in a completely different area of the world. A good example of the latter is the 2008 outbreak of a virulent Salmonella serotype Saintpaul responsible for illnesses associated with the consumption of tomatoes. Suppliers of tomatoes normally rely on more than one grower to fill the orders. Also, tomatoes are not classified by origin but by ripeness, size, and grades during processing. Thus, tomatoes collected in Florida may be shipped to Mexico for packaging before they are sent back to the United States for final sale. In addition, the incorporation of sliced tomatoes in salad bars, deli counters, or supermarket salsas makes it extremely difficult to track where the tomatoes originated. The investigation into this particular outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul resulted in suspicion that farms from Mexico and Florida were the ones involved in the production of the contaminated tomatoes. However, more than 1,700 samples collected from irrigation sources and packing, washing, and storage facilities were negative, and there was never a clear resolution of the actual source of the outbreak [16].
