ABSTRACT
The per capita consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables continues to increase as a result of unprecedented availability and irrefutable evidence that fresh produce is a primary component in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, the rich diversity of fresh plant foods in terms of flavors, textures, and colors provides satisfaction on many levels. Produce, while on its journey from the farm production site to its final consumer destination, will encounter a variety of environments and thus potential impacts on quality and safety. It is a paramount responsibility of all those involved in the fresh produce business to protect these foods from processes and situations that may compromise safety. We are all custodians of our produce and must be vigilant in preventing contamination with physical, chemical, and biological hazards. In our quest for novel, exciting, more nutritious, and more convenient fresh foods, we must be on guard that we are not compromising heretofore impassable hurdles to contamination. It is only through effective collaborative efforts of industry, government, academia, and consumer education that we will minimize the threat of contamination of fresh produce. These foods are perhaps the most worrisome in terms of food safety because of the minimal processing they receive. In fact, it is their most desirable consumer characteristics of being fresh and unprocessed that provides the greatest opportunity for contamination to persist through the chain of distribution. Not all fresh plant foods are equal in terms of their ability to serve as sources of contamination. Certainly plant foods harvested directly from the ground may be more prone to physical, chemical, and microbial hazards, while those that have a natural protective barrier such as a peel or skin (oranges, bananas) that is removed just prior to consumption present fewer safety problems. During the writing of this chapter, a nationwide outbreak occurred of
Escherichia coli
associated with bagged spinach. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to consumers not to buy bagged spinach. Sales and distribution of all bagged salad-type produce plummeted overnight. Leafy vegetables such as spinach and lettuce have been involved in several microbial contamination problems. The relatively high surface area of these vegetables, coupled with intensive agricultural practices, the dislocation and cutting of the leaves from the plant, and sorting, cleaning, and washing procedures have been suggested as opportunities for microbial contamination. Some fruits and vegetables have very hydrophobic smooth surfaces that tend to limit microbial adhesion while others have acidic interiors that limit the growth of potential pathogens.
