ECOLOGICAL AND FOOD SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS IN PRODUCTS OF PLANT-ORIGIN

Media have paid much attention in recent years to emerging microbiolog ical problems in foods of plant origin. The potential for contaminatio n of fruits and vegetables is high because of the wide variety of cond itions to which produce is exposed during growth, harvest, processing and distribution. These considerations acquire great significance in t he current scenario of the new processing techniques that offer attrib utes of convenience and fresh-likeness in response to changes in consu mption patterns and increased demand of fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Thus, reliance on low temperature storage and o n improved packaging materials techniques have increased. Even if prod uce had not been considered a major vector for foodborne diseases, tec hnologies that extend shelf-life by decreasing the rate of product det erioration might increase the risks associated with pathogenic microor ganisms, especially of psychrotrophic nature, by allowing sufficient t ime for their growth when retarding the development of competitive spo ilage organisms. Processing steps that modify the food microenvironmen t open new possibilities to support pathogens that, for ecological rea son, would have never been naturally present in produce. Ecological an d safely aspects related to fruits and vegetables as well as foodborne disease outbreaks traceable to produce and reportedly due to Salmonel la and Shigella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum, A eromonas hydrophila, campylobacter jejuni are reviewed.