REDUCING PATHOGEN PRESENCE IN FRESH-CUT PRODUCE

• Sponsoring Institution: Agricultural Research Service/USDA
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: USDA INHOUSE
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0422387
• Project Start Date: Jan 30, 2012
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2014
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
Dole Fresh Vegetables
2959 Salinas Highway
Monterey,CA 93940

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
(N/A)

Animal Health Component

50%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

50%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
712	0110	1070	20%
722	0210	1100	20%
712	1430	1070	60%

Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins; 722 - Zoonotic Diseases and Parasites Affecting Humans;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil; 1430 - Greens and leafy vegetables; 0210 - Water resources;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology; 1100 - Bacteriology;

Keywords

e.

coli

fresh

cut

leafy

greens

pilot

plant

non-pathogenic

food

safety

dole

fresh

vegetables

contamination

Goals / Objectives
The objective of this cooperative research project is to facilitate the adoption of food safety interventions through laboratory and pilot plant scale experiments.

Project Methods
A range of processing options including various sanitizing wash steps and sequences will be used to evaluate reduction of E. coli on fresh-cut leafy greens while preserving produce quality. Non-pathogenic E. coli will be inoculated onto fresh leafy green produce or cut/shredded then inoculated. The product will be packaged, treated with modified atmosphere, subjected to simulated storage/transport and refrigerated retail display conditions prior to evaluation for E. coli survival. Cells of E. coli cells will be recovered from produce and wash water and quantified using standard plating or enrichment procedures.

Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): The objective of this cooperative research project is to facilitate the adoption of food safety interventions through laboratory and pilot plant scale experiments. Approach (from AD-416): A range of processing options including various sanitizing wash steps and sequences will be used to evaluate reduction of E. coli on fresh-cut leafy greens while preserving produce quality. Non-pathogenic E. coli will be inoculated onto fresh leafy green produce or cut/shredded then inoculated. The product will be packaged, treated with modified atmosphere, subjected to simulated storage/transport and refrigerated retail display conditions prior to evaluation for E. coli survival. Cells of E. coli cells will be recovered from produce and wash water and quantified using standard plating or enrichment procedures. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the potential application of electrolyzed water for reducing pathogen contamination, and temperature abuse patterns on the quality and shelf life of packaged salads. Several thousand bags of commercially processed fresh-cut baby spinach and lettuce products were donated by Dole Fresh Vegetables. The Dole Fresh Vegetable also visited USDA facilitates in Beltsville, Maryland and attended the stakeholder advisor meeting.

Impacts
(N/A)

Publications