Journal
JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION
Volume 65, Issue 4, Pages 673-676Publisher
INT ASSOC FOOD PROTECTION
DOI: 10.4315/0362-028X-65.4.673
Keywords
-
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In this study, the transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to lettuce plants through spray and surface irrigation was demonstrated. For all treatments combined, the number of plants testing positive following a single exposure to E. coli O157: H7 through spray irrigation (29 of 32 plants) was larger than the number testing positive following surface irrigation (6 of 32 plants). E. coli O157:H7 persisted on 9 of 11 plants for 20 days following spray irrigation with contaminated water. Immersion of harvested lettuce heads for 1 ruin in a 200 ppm chlorine solution did not eliminate all E. coli O157:H7 cells. The results of this study suggest that regardless of the irrigation method used, crops can become contaminated; therefore, the irrigation of food crops with water of unknown microbial quality should be avoided.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available