Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Farmers, Farm Operators, Farmers' Market Vendors, Shoppers, Food Safety and Cooperative Extension Specialists, Agricultural Science Students, Dietetic Interns, and Department of Health Officials. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided opportunities for two graduate students to conduct the research needed for the fulfilment of their master program. Six dietetic interns (Dietetic Internship Program in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences of the College of Agriculture) and one Master degree level research rotation student (Biology Department) participated in the research project as a part of their requisite research activities. Two undergraduates as a work study student assisted the graduate students in executing the project. They received hands-on training. Two MS thesis, and five poster and one oral presentations were produced. Additionally, two manuscripts are in preparation for peer review publication. Training through the project helped: 1) dietetic interns pass their research dietician examination and 2) two dietetic interns won second place in a competition at a graduate research conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Various target audiences (scientists, students, state agents, federal agents, farmers, and consumers) reached through followings: 1)One oral presentation on "Prevalence of Foodborne Pathogens on Fresh Produce Acquired from Farmers' Markets in Central Virginia and Their resistance to Antimicrobials" at The Second 1890 ARD & USDA-ARS Food Safety Consortium Symposium at USDA-ARS-Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, MD on April 23, 2018. 2)Two poster presentations on "Assessment of Microbiological Quality of Fresh Produce Acquired from Farmers' Markets in Central Virginia" and "A Microbiological Survey of Food Commodities Acquired from Farmers' Markets in Central Virginia" at ARD Research Symposium 2019 in Jacksonville, FL on March 29 - April 3, 2019 One poster presentation on "A Microbiological Survey of Fresh Produce Acquired from Farmers' Markets in Central Virginia" at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA on June 3 - 5, 2019. 4) One poster presentation on "Microbiological Assessment of Fresh Produce Acquired from Farmers' Markets in Central Virginia" at Virginia Urban Agriculture Summit in Virginia Beach, VA on April 23 - 25, 2019. One poster presentation on "Confirmation of Presumptive Foodborne Pathogens Isolated from Food Products Acquired from Farmers' Markets in Central Virginia and their Potential for Antimicrobial Resistance" at Virginia State University Graduate Research Symposia in Petersburg, VA on April 11, 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the final report of the project from 10/01/2016 to 09/30/2019.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The prevalence and characterization of foodborne pathogens on various food commodities available at farmers' markets in Central Virginia were evaluated. A total of 138 fresh produce samples (i.e., bell pepper, cilantro, green onion, lettuce, spinach, tomato; etc.) produced by 15 farms and sold at 9 registered farmers' markets were obtained while 194 other commodities (i.e., animal feed and treat, egg, herb and spice, juice, poultry and meat, dressing and sauce, sausage, exotic food; etc.) produced by 43 farms and sold at 12 farmers' markets were procured for analysis. For fresh produce, aerobic mesophilic bacterial counts ranged with the lowest and the highest counts recorded for plums (3.6±0.4 log CFU/g) and leeks (8.8±0.4 log CFU/g), respectively. For other commodities, oat bars and Mexi-Cali street corn had the lowest (<2.4 log CFU/g) and the highest (8.8±0.2 log CFU/g) aerobic mesophile counts, respectively. The highest level of coliforms was found in cilantro (5.8±0.8 log MPN/g) for fresh produce and pork sausage (5.7±0.5 log MPN/g) for other commodities. Approximately 10.1% and 24.7% E. coli, 8.7% and 1.5% Campylobacter, and 8.0% and 17.5% Listeria of fresh produce and other commodity samples, respectively, were detected. Additionally, 2.6% Salmonella and 2.6% Staphylococcus were detected in other commodities. Out of positive bacterial isolates from fresh produce and other commodities, respectively, 17.4% and 16.1% E. coli, 54.5% and 61.8% Listeria, and 91.7% and 100% Campylobacter exhibited resistance to three or more categories of antimicrobials, meeting criteria for multidrug resistance (MDR). All Salmonella isolates showed MDR. Two E. coli strains isolated from duplicate chestnut samples demonstrated 90% similarity in PFGE profiles. Matching E. coli PFGE profiles obtained from different food products (pork chop and pork kidney) processed at the same facility manifested the potential of inter-transmission of the bacteria. PFGE profiles of isolated E. coli strains revealed geographic specificity and genomic diversity from food commodities sold at farmers' markets. This study demonstrated a potential health hazard arising from farmers' market-acquired food products and emphasizes the importance of food safety training for food producers, farmers' market vendors, and consumers as a whole to prevent foodborne illness. Continued research is needed to determine and intervene the cause(s) of the observed prevalence and to support the healthy development of food products sold at farmers' markets.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kim, C., Fatani, A., Almuqati, R., Rahemi, A., Abujamous, A., Wynn, C., Nartea, T., Ndegwa, E., Rutto, L., and Dhakal, R. 2021. Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of foodborne pathogens in value-added commodities procured from farmers' markets in Central Virginia. J Food Saf. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfs.12931.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kim, C., Almuqati, R., Fatani, A., Alireza, R., Kaseloo, P., Wynn, C., Nartea, T., Ndegwa, E., and Rutto, L. 2021. Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of foodborne pathogens in select fresh produce procured from farmers markets in Central Virginia. J Food Saf. 41 (7):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfs.12895.
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Farmers, Farm Operators, Farmers' Market Vendors and Shoppers, Food Safety and Cooperative Extension Specialists, Agricultural Science Students, Dietetic Interns, and Department of Health Officials. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided opportunities for two graduate students to conduct the research needed for the fulfilment of their master program. Four dietetic intern students were participated in the research project as part of the collaboration with the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences of the College of Agriculture at the Virginia State University Dietetic Internship Program. They received hands-on training during the reporting period. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Three abstracts were submitted to Virginia State University Annual Undergraduate/Graduate Research Conference and Virginia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Conference. Three posters are in preparation for the presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Presumptive foodborne pathogens isolated from fresh produce and non-fresh produce commodities will be confirmed by AOAC-approved or performance-tested methods. In addition, prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria isolated from this stage will be further investigated for the next reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this study, a total of 342 samples consisting of 138 fresh produce and 204 non-fresh produce were acquired from farmers' markets in Central Virginia and their microbial quality was assessed. These commodities were produced by 43 farms and sold at 12 registered farmers' markets. The fresh produce was classified in 6 commodity groups (bulb, fruit, leaves, root or tuber, seeds or pods, and stem, stalk and/or flower). For fresh produce, there was a high variability of microbial counts ranging from 3.1 to 9.4 log CFU/g for aerobic mesophiles and 1.7 to 9.3 log CFU/g for psychrotrophs. The mean count of aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic counts of leeks (8.8 log CFU/g) and green onions (8.9 log CFU/g) was the highest, while its level was the lowest for plums (3.6 log CFU/g) and crimini mushrooms (1.7 log CFU/g). Among all 6 commodity groups, fruits had significantly lower aerobic mesophilic and psychrotropic counts than bulbs and leaves (P < 0.05). Samples with even high bacterial counts from leaves and bulb classifications did not show any sensory sign of defect or spoilage. Coliform counts ranged from 0.5 to 6.0 log MPN/g with the highest mean in cilantro leaves (5.8 log MPN/g). E. coli counts ranged from 0.1 to 6.0 log MPN/g and the highest count was in tomato fruits (4.8 log MPN/g). Both Campylobacter spp. and Listeria spp. were detected at the highest rate in bulbs, while the highest rate of Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in fruits. Overall 3.6% of samples analyzed in our study were detected with the presence of Salmonella. Our findings of 6.6% of Salmonella spp. in fruit is of particular concern posing potential harm to consumers since most of fruit commodities receive either minimal or no processing prior to consumption. It was noted that samples from one particular grower (vendor) manifested the presence of all pathogens analyzed in this study. In addition, microbiological analysis on non-fresh produce commodities are currently underway.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One graduate student participated in the edamame project completed her MS thesis. Two dietetic interns and one undergraduate student also participated in these projects. Training through the project helped: 1) dietetic interns pass their research dietician examination and 2) the undergraduate student win the second place in a competition at an undergraduate research conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Two peer-reviewed articles were published. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In light of the World Health Organization's call for improved surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria and the FDA's continuous effort to enhance and strengthen antimicrobial surveillance through the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), multi-drug resistance bacteria are gaining more and more attention worldwide. To meet this effort, for the next reporting period, we will evaluate the prevalence of AMR in bacterial isolates obtained from our previous studies between 2007 and 2013. In addition, in response to growing concern that although sales of local food at farmers' markets have been steadily growing for more than a decade, the food safety risks associated with products purchased at farmers' markets have not been adequately addressed. Therefore, we will assess the differences in the levels of microbial counts and the prevalence of pathogens in or on food products that are purchased from farmers' markets in Central Virginia.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The validation study on the use of the combination of steam blanching, vacuum packaging and cold storage demonstrated their effectiveness in prolonging the physical and microbiological quality of edamame. Steam blanching whole pods at 90°C for 30s significantly reduced the total counts of aerobic mesophiles (>5.1 log CFU/g), yeasts and molds (>4.3 log CFU/g), and psychrotrophs (>4.0 log CFU/g), and no significant increase in overall microbial counts was observed during 4°C refrigeration for <9 days. In addition, the combination method used in the study is environmentally friendly and easily adaptable to a small farm setting, giving it a great deal of potential to benefit small farmers who wish to increase profitability by marketing their fresh edamame as an alternative crop. Secondly, another study on the evaluation of the microbial load on shiitake mushrooms sold through the Internet and at local retail markets revealed high levels of aerobic mesophiles (6.9 to 7.5 log CFU/g), yeast and mold (5.8 to 6.0 log CFU/g), and coliforms (1.6 to 1.9 log MPN/g) in locally-acquired mushrooms. Our findings suggest that stakeholders including shiitake mushroom producers, retailers, and consumers need to be aware of potential microbial hazards associated with handling fresh shiitake mushrooms.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
The role of steam blanching and vacuum packaging on the physical and microbiological quality of fresh vegetable soybean (edamame) during storage was published in Austin Food Sciences (2:1029). The other evaluating microbial loads on dried and fresh shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) as obtained from internet and local retail markets, respectively, was published in Food Safety (4:45-51). Finding from both projects were also presented at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting & Food Expo., July 11-14, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois.
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