Producing Safer Produce: A New Era in Food Safety

Richard H. Linton, Ph.D.
Professor of Food Safety
Purdue University

Concerns about the safety of fresh fruit and vegetable products seem to be in the news almost every day. Numerous foodborne disease outbreaks and food recalls are now being identified with contaminated fresh produce. Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7 bacteria are the leading causes of produce contamination, causing nearly 85% of all outbreaks. The table below shows the most common sources of contamination found in the United States. Clearly there is evidence suggesting that we can do a better job.

In the past decade, most of the emphasis related to minimizing food safety problems has focused on the meat, poultry, and seafood industries. In the late 1990's, the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) program became mandatory in many meat, poultry, and seafood operations. In turn, we have seen significant improvements in food safety and sanitation in this segment of the industry and the incidence of Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes has decreased in these products nationwide. While these accomplishments are due in part to the implementation of HACCP and other prerequisite food safety programs, I think the collaborative efforts of the food industry and regulatory agencies have also played a very important role.

The increase in reported foodborne disease outbreaks linked to produce-related products is likely a combined effect of many factors. Americans are eating more produce each year because of added health benefits of incorporating fruit and vegetables into the diet. An improvement in meat, poultry, and seafood food safety has also changed the balance, and perhaps has focused our interest more toward fruit and vegetable products. We are also importing more fruit and vegetable products from all over the world.

Risk of foodborne illness for retailers can be simplified into three basic questions:

1. What is the likelihood that the food/ingredient will be contaminated?
2. How much of the food/ingredient is consumed in the American diet?, and,
3. Does the retailer have an intervention step that can be used to reduce risk to an acceptable level?

Risk becomes very different for meat, poultry, and seafood compared to fresh produce. Meat, poultry, and seafood are likely to be contaminated, we consume a lot in our diet, and there are effective interventions, like cooking, to reduce most pathogens to an acceptable level. Produce, on the other hand, presents a different risk altogether. Produce is not likely to be contaminated (as compared to meat, poultry, and seafood), we consume higher amounts in our diet every year, and because these foods are commonly considered ready-to-eat, there is a lack of effective interventions to reduce pathogens on fresh produce to acceptable levels. While it is true that we can wash produce, washing is only minimally effective and retailers cannot rely on washing alone to assure the safety of fruits and vegetables.

Reducing the risk of foodborne illness in produce will require a step wise process, involving all levels of the produce production chain. To be successful at minimizing risk, the effort must include the food industry and regulatory agencies working together.

Step 1 needs to focus on developing a better understanding of the sources of contamination on farm and effective food handling practices for farm workers. We now recognize that there are many potential sources of contamination that can be introduced during planting, growing, and harvesting. The primary sources of contamination are water, soil, manure, people, and animals, but there are many knowledge gaps that still exist. In 1998, the FDA published a document called "Guidance for Industry - The Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables" (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/prodguid.html). A follow up training program was developed for farm workers and the produce distribution chain by Cornell University and many other universities called the National Good Agricultural Practices Program (GAPs) http://www.gaps.cornell.edu/. These are both excellent resources, but more research is needed to determine how produce becomes contaminated and how such contamination can be prevented or controlled. In addition, the information gained from this research must be incorporated into educational materials and training programs that will help farmers reduce the risk of foodborne illness. We need to better understand and implement more effective food handling practices to lessen the risk of produce contamination.

Step 2 should involve more effective pathogen reduction strategies in food manufacturing facilities. Most manufacturing operations are limited to washing produce with or without the use of a sanitizing water bath. A wide variety of antimicrobial chemicals have been used with limited effectiveness. Chlorine-containing compounds (i.e. hypochlorite) are the most widely used chemicals, but, this method is limited to a 1-2 log reduction for pathogens. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recommending a 5-log reduction which is 1000 times better than we are today. Researchers need to develop nonthermal intervention that will make produce safer and maintain produce in the fresh state.

Step 3 considers the role of retailers. It will likely take time to implement better food handling practices on farms and even longer before research unveils more effective interventions at manufacturing. As retailers, we need to do all that we can to minimize these risks. Washing produce under current FDA Food Code recommendations (Sections: 3-302.15a and 3-302.15b), developing an effective approved source program, auditing farms that supply your produce, and gaining a better understanding of what manufacturing interventions are available, are all important considerations. Regardless, solving contamination of fresh produce will be difficult since there is no "cook step." To get there, industry, regulatory, and academia need to work together and the effort truly does have to be farm to fork.

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