An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Research Publications (Food Safety)

This page tracks research articles published in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Recent articles are available ahead of print and searchable by Journal, Article Title, and Category. Research publications are tracked across six categories: Bacterial Pathogens, Chemical Contaminants, Natural Toxins, Parasites, Produce Safety, and Viruses. Articles produced by USDA Grant Funding Agencies (requires login) and FDA Grant Funding Agencies (requires login) are also tracked in Scopus.

Displaying 1 - 16 of 16

  1. Combined antibacterial effect of 460 nm light-emitting diode illumination and chitosan against Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes on fresh-cut melon, and the impact of combined treatment on fruit quality

    • Food Science and Biotechnology
    • This study evaluated the combined antibacterial effect of 460 nm LED illumination and chitosan on Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes on fresh-cut melon surface and its impact on the quality of melon at a total dose of 2.4 kJ/cm2 at 4 and 10 °C.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
      • Escherichia coli O157:H7
      • Listeria monocytogenes
      • Salmonella
      • Produce Safety
      • Fresh Cut
  2. Development of a food preservative from sea buckthorn together with chitosan: Application in and characterization of fresh-cut lettuce storage

    • Frontiers in Microbiology
    • The purpose was to create a novel composite food preservative for fresh-cut lettuce using flavonoids and chitosan from sea buckthorn leaves (SBL). Sea buckthorn leaves were extracted with ethanol as the extraction solvent and ultrasonic-assisted extraction to obtain flavonoid from sea buckthorn leaf crude (FSL), and then the FSL was secondarily purified with AB-8 resin and polyamide resin to obtain flavonoid from sea buckthorn leaf purified (FSL-1).

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Listeria monocytogenes
      • Salmonella
      • Staphylococcus aureus
      • Produce Safety
      • Fresh Cut
      • Leafy Greens
  3. Cross contamination of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in fresh-cut leafy vegetables: Derivation of a food safety objective and other risk management metrics

    • Food Control
    • In the present study, the distribution of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was investigated in fresh-cut lettuce by simulating a commercial process at a pilot plant scale with different initial inoculum levels. A deterministic approach was used to derive a potential Food Safety Objective (FSO) for the studied pathogen. The experimental outcomes, together with literature data, were used to develop a probabilistic exposure model for E.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
      • Produce Safety
      • Fresh Cut
      • Leafy Greens
  4. Whole-Genome Sequencing-Based Characterization of Listeria Isolates from Produce Packinghouses and Fresh-Cut Facilities Suggests Both Persistence and Reintroduction of Fully Virulent L. monocytogenes

    • Applied and Environmental Microbiology
    • Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Ahead of Print. The contamination of ready-to-eat produce with Listeria monocytogenes (LM) can often be traced back to environmental sources in processing facilities and packinghouses. To provide an improved understanding of Listeria sources and transmission in produce operations, we performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of LM (n = 169) and other Listeria spp.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Listeria monocytogenes
      • Produce Safety
      • Fresh Cut
  5. Effects of temperature abuse on the growth and survival of Listeria monocytogenes on a wide variety of whole and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables during storage

    • Food Control
    • Twenty types of fruits and vegetables representing a broad range of fresh produce categories were assessed for the growth potential and growth kinetics of Listeria monocytogenes under conditions reflecting commercial practices for storage and distribution and conditions reflecting sustained temperature abuse. Whole and fresh-cut produce was obtained from various commercial sources and inoculated with L.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Listeria monocytogenes
      • Produce Safety
      • Fresh Cut
  6. Microbiological contamination of fresh-cut produce in Korea

    • Food Science and Biotechnology
    • This study evaluated the microbiological contamination of fresh-cut produce in Korea. A total of 108 fresh-cut vegetables and fruits were surveyed for the aerobic mesophilic (AM) count, aerobic psychrophilic (AP) count, total coliform, generic Escherichia coli, yeast and mold, and foodborne pathogens. AM counts ranged from 1.00 to 7.36 log CFU/g, and AP counts showed very similar results as AM counts. For total coliform and generic E.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
      • Salmonella
      • Staphylococcus aureus
      • Produce Safety
      • Fresh Cut
  7. Survival and Transcriptomic response of Salmonella enterica on fresh-cut fruits

    • International Journal of Food Microbiology
    • Author(s): Yingshu He, Ruixi Chen, Yan Qi, Joelle K. Salazar, Shimei Zhang, Mary Lou Tortorello, Xiangyu Deng, Wei Zhang

      • Fresh Cut
      • Produce Safety
      • Salmonella
      • Bacterial pathogens
  8. A microfluidic colorimetric biosensor for in-field detection of Salmonella in fresh-cut vegetables using thiolated polystyrene microspheres, hose-based microvalve and smartphone imaging APP

    • Food Chemistry
    • Author(s): Yan Man, Meijing Ban, An Li, Xinxin Jin, Yuanfang Du, Ligang Pan

      • Fresh Cut
      • Produce Safety
      • Salmonella
      • Bacterial pathogens
  9. Electrostatic Spraying of Passion Fruit ( Passiflora edulis L.) Peel Extract for Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes on Fresh-Cut Lollo Rossa and Beetroot Leaves

    • Food and Bioprocess Technology
    • In the present study, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of passion fruit peel extract (PPE) against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes. The application of PPE using an electrostatic spraying system for the disinfection of fresh-cut Lollo Rossa and beetroot leaves was also examined and compared with conventional PPE washing.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Fresh Cut
      • Produce Safety
      • Escherichia coli O157:H7
      • Listeria monocytogenes
  10. Nature versus Nurture: Assessing the Impact of Strain Diversity and Pregrowth Conditions on Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli, and Listeria Species Growth and Survival on Selected Produce Items

    • Applied and Environmental Microbiology
    • Inoculation studies are important when assessing microbial survival and growth in food products. These studies typically involve the pregrowth of multiple strains of a target pathogen under a single condition; this emphasizes strain diversity.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
      • Fresh Cut
      • Produce Safety
  11. Impact of Blue LED Illumination and Natural Photosensitizer on Bacterial Pathogens, Enzyme Activity and Quality Attributes of Fresh-Cut Pineapple Slices

    • Food and Bioprocess Technology
    • Abstract

      • Fresh Cut
      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Produce Safety
      • Staphylococcus aureus
  12. Factors impacting chemical and microbiological quality of wash water during simulated dump tank wash of grape tomatoes

    • Journal of Food Protection
    • Fresh and fresh-cut tomatoes are high in phytonutrients. But the illness outbreaks associated with contaminated tomatoes have significantly impacted public health and the industry’s economic well-being. Scientific information is critically needed to develop an effective, practical food safety standard to reduce pathogen contamination.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Fresh Cut
      • Produce Safety
      • Post Harvest
  13. Edible treatments of Capsicum extracts inactivate the microbial contaminations to improve the quality of fresh‐cut bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum (L.) Sendt)

    • Journal of Food Processing and Preservation
    • The present study aimed to examine the efficiency of ethanolic extract of Capsicum annuum L (CAE) in improving the shelf life and quality of fresh‐cut C. annuum (FCCa). The uniformly sliced FCCa were prewashed with sodium hypochlorite solution (NaOCl) and then treated with 10% of CAE. The foodborne pathogens of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica were patched on the surface of FCCa and stored at 15°C and 4°C for 12 days.

      • Fresh Cut
      • Produce Safety
      • Listeria monocytogenes
      • Salmonella
      • Bacterial pathogens
  14. Comparativestudy on the stability of selected Neutral electrolysed waters and their sanitising effect on organic fresh‐cut lettuce (Lactuca sativa Var. crispa L)

    • Journal of Food Processing and Preservation
    • In this study, two near neutral pH electrolysed water (NEW1 produced by redirecting of the catholyte solution back to the anode chamber and NEW2 produced by using NaCl and NaHCO3 as electrolyte) and control (NEW0, produced by commercial unit) were evaluated for their stability during 75 h storageat 7°C.

      • Fresh Cut
      • Produce Safety
      • Bacterial pathogens
  15. Research Paper Use of a novel sanitizer to Inactivate Salmonella Typhimurium and spoilage microorganisms during flume washing of diced tomatoes

    • Journal of Food Protection
    • As demand for fresh-cut produce increases, minimizing the risk of salmonellosis becomes critical for the produce industry. Sanitizers are routinely used during commercial flume washing of fresh-cut produce to minimize cross-contamination from the wash water .

      • Produce Safety
      • Fresh Cut
      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
  16. Effectiveness of edible coatings to inhibit browning and inactivate foodborne pathogens on fresh‐cut apples

    • Journal of Food Safety
    • Fresh‐cut apples were dip‐coated in antimicrobial/antibrowning solutions. The developed solutions had the dual effectiveness of both controlling browning and reducing pathogenic bacterial populations, which maintained the fresh‐like appearance and texture of apple slices for 35 days and reduced populations of Salmonella to undetectable levels (<1 log) without growth throughout the storage at 4°C.

      • Escherichia coli O157:H7
      • Listeria monocytogenes
      • Fresh Cut
      • Salmonella
      • Produce Safety
      • Bacterial pathogens