Abstract
Foodborne illness burdens individuals around the world and may be caused by consuming fresh produce contaminated with bacterial, parasite, and viral pathogens. Pathogen contamination on produce may originate at the farm and packing facility. This research aimed to determine the prevalence of human pathogens (bacteria, parasites, and viruses) on fresh produce (fruits, herbs, and vegetables) on farms and in packing facilities worldwide through a systematic review of 38 peer-reviewed articles. The median and range of the prevalence was calculated, and Kruskal–Wallis tests and logistic regression were performed to compare prevalence among pooled samples of produce groups, pathogen types, and sampling locations. Results indicated a low median percentage of fresh produce contaminated with pathogens (0%). Both viruses (p-value = 0.017) and parasites (p-value = 0.033), on fresh produce, exhibited higher prevalence than bacteria. No significant differences between fresh produce types or between farm and packing facility were observed. These results may help to better quantify produce contamination in the production environment and inform strategies to prevent future foodborne illness.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 40 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Volume | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 23 2018 |
Funding
We thank Dr. Betsy Bihn (Cornell University) for the consultations of the interpretation of the study and Dr. Ben Lopman (Emory University) for guidance on the analysis. This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award numbers 2010-85212-20608, 2011-67012-30762, 2011-68003-30395 (NoroCORE, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant) and 2015-67017-23080.
Keywords
- farm
- farm-to-fork
- fruit
- herb
- packing facility
- pathogen
- vegetable
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health