The Produce Contamination Problem: 2009

Understanding the causes and contributing factors leading to outbreaks of food-borne illness associated with contamination of fresh produce continues to be a worldwide challenge for everyone from the growers of fresh-cut produce through the entire production and delivery process. Additionally researchers both at universities and in government agencies are facing an increased challenge to develop means of preventing these foodborne illness occurrences. The premise of this book is that when human pathogen contamination of fresh produce occurs, it is extremely difficult to reduce pathogen levels sufficiently to assure microbiological safety with the currently available technologies. A wiser strategy would be to avoid crop production conditions that result in microbial contamination to start. These critical, problem-oriented chapters have been written by researchers active in the areas of food safety and microbial contamination during production, harvesting, packing and fresh-cut processing of horticultural crops, and were designed to provide methods of contamination avoidance. Coverage includes policy and practices in the US, Mexico and Central America, Europe, and Japan.