Preharvest Food Safety And Security

A colloquium was convened in Perthshire, Scotland, December 5-8, 2003, by the American Academy of Microbiology to deliberate preharvest food safety and food security strategies. Professionals with expertise in veterinary medicine, agriculture, plant science, food safety, and microbiology discussed current practices in preharvest food safety, problems posed by pathogens on the farm, research needs in the field, and communication and education priorities. Recent major outbreaks of foodborne illness continue to heighten our awareness about the complexity of the farm-to-fork continuum and the relevance of the on-farm or preharvest role. For example, outbreaks of Cyclospora in Guatemalan raspberries, hepatitis A from Mexican green onions, and norovirus from British Columbian oysters all began with contamination at the preharvest level. For many food products, it can be difficult to prevent transmission of pathogens to consumers once the food leaves the farm, since post-harvest decontamination steps, if available, are not always effective. For food products eaten raw, like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and some seafood, there is no cooking process to inactivate pathogens. Another complication can be home preparation where raw food products, like meat, can be the source of pathogens to other items in the food preparation environment before cooking. There are many steps in the process that brings food from the farm to the table; each step provides opportunities for contamination and, ultimately, risk of foodborne illness. This colloquium only considered preharvest food safety, although we recognized that it is not the only or, in some case, the most critical, stage of food production. However, cost effective interventions with the potential of reducing levels of contamination can be useful in the continuum of food production. Outside of basic hygiene practices, few food safety controls are in place in food production environments (preharvest) because not enough information is available on what would control foodborne pathogens. There are multiple needs for data: systematic surveil-lance would provide baseline data on the prevalence of pathogens, and epidemiologic research could help identify effective controls. Comprehensive and transparent risk assessments on preharvest issues are needed to continue to identify risk mitigation priorities and to provide comparisons among intervention strategies. The human pathogens of concern in preharvest environments include a wide array of viruses, parasites, and bacteria that can have a range of effects and severity, depending on pathogen-specific and host-specific properties. Due to differences in cultivation practices and wealth of resources, the organisms of concern on farms in industrialized nations and in developing countries are likely to be quite different. Admittedly, eliminating pathogens from the pre-harvest environment would be nearly impossible. A more practical goal for preharvest food safety interventions is to reduce pathogen numbers to levels that will reduce the degree of hazard to public health. Unfortunately, since there is not always a definitive link between preharvest food safety and public health, and there are many factors in between, it will first be important to understand the role of preharvest contamination and control strategies on the overall burden of microbes in our food supply. This is complicated because some foods are marketed direct from the farm to retail (produce), while other products have intermediate processing steps (meats), and their impacts on importance of on-farm measures may be different. Furthermore, this may afford only temporary success, since the pathogens may reproduce and disseminate during other steps in the farm-to-fork continuum. Indeed, many factors play roles in determining the numbers of pathogens in food production environments, including diet, seasonal factors, and microbial symbioses, among others. In light of global concerns about bioterrorism, biological security on the farm is an even bigger concern. A number of security-sensitive points in food production processes were discussed, and priorities for security measures were identified. Although progress has been made, our understanding of the epidemiology of foodborne pathogens on the farm and the best ways to manage their risks is limited at best. A number of specific preharvest food safety research needs were identified, including validation and development of interventions, development of better tools for pathogen detection and enumeration, and investigation of the effects of interventions on microbial community dynamics.

An overview of farm-to-fork safety in the preharvest realm Foodborne outbreaks continue to take lives and harm economies, making controlling the entry of pathogens into the food supply a priority. Preharvest factors have been the cause of numerous outbreaks, including Listeria in melons, Salmonella associated with tomatoes, and Shiga toxin-producing E.coli in beef products, yet most traditional control measures and regulations occur at the postharvest stage. Preharvest Food Safety covers a broad swath of knowledge surrounding topics of safety at the preharvest and harvest stages, focusing on problems for specific food sources and food pathogens, as well as new tools and potential solutions. Led by editors Siddhartha Thakur and Kalmia Kniel, a team of expert authors provides insights into critical themes surrounding preharvest food safety, including Challenges specific to meat, seafood, dairy, egg, produce, grain, and nut production Established and emerging foodborne and agriculture-related pathogens Influences of external factors such as climate change and the growing local-foods trend Regulatory issues from both US and EU perspectives Use of pre- and probiotics, molecular tools, mathematical modeling, and one health approaches Intended to encourage the scientific community and food industry stakeholders to advance their knowledge of the developments and challenges associated with preharvest food safety, this book addresses the current state of the field and provides a diverse array of chapters focused on a variety of food commodities and microbiological hazards.

Food and Feed Safety Systems and Analysis discusses the integration of food safety with recent research developments in food borne pathogens. The book covers food systems, food borne ecology, how to conduct research on food safety and food borne pathogens, and developing educational materials to train incoming professionals in the field. Topics include data analysis and cyber security for food safety systems, control of food borne pathogens and supply chain logistics. The book uniquely covers current food safety perspectives on integrating food systems concepts into pet food manufacturing, as well as data analyses aspects of food systems. Explores cutting edge research about emerging issues associated with food safety Includes new research on understanding foodborne Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli Presents foodborne pathogens and whole genome sequencing applications Provides concepts and issues related to pet and animal feed safety

An overview of farm-to-fork safety in the preharvest realm Foodborne outbreaks continue to take lives and harm economies, making controlling the entry of pathogens into the food supply a priority. Preharvest factors have been the cause of numerous outbreaks, including Listeria in melons, Salmonella associated with tomatoes, and Shiga toxin-producing E.coli in beef products, yet most traditional control measures and regulations occur at the postharvest stage. Preharvest Food Safety covers a broad swath of knowledge surrounding topics of safety at the preharvest and harvest stages, focusing on problems for specific food sources and food pathogens, as well as new tools and potential solutions. Led by editors Siddhartha Thakur and Kalmia Kniel, a team of expert authors provides insights into critical themes surrounding preharvest food safety, including Challenges specific to meat, seafood, dairy, egg, produce, grain, and nut production Established and emerging foodborne and agriculture-related pathogens Influences of external factors such as climate change and the growing local-foods trend Regulatory issues from both US and EU perspectives Use of pre- and probiotics, molecular tools, mathematical modeling, and one health approaches Intended to encourage the scientific community and food industry stakeholders to advance their knowledge of the developments and challenges associated with preharvest food safety, this book addresses the current state of the field and provides a diverse array of chapters focused on a variety of food commodities and microbiological hazards.

This book focuses on food security and safety issues in Africa, a continent presently challenged with malnutrition and food insecurity. The continuous increase in the human population of Africa will lead to higher food demands, and climate change has already affected food production in most parts of Africa, resulting in drought, reduced crop yields, and loss of livestock and income. For Africa to be food-secure, safe and nutritious food has to be available, well-distributed, and sufficient to meet people’s food requirements. Contributors to Food Security and Safety: African Perspectives offer solutions to the lack of adequate safe and nutritious food in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as highlight the positive efforts being made to address this lack through a holistic approach. The book discusses the various methods used to enhance food security, such as food fortification, fermentation, genetic modification, and plant breeding for improved yield and resistance to diseases. Authors emphasize the importance of hygiene and food safety in food preparation and preservation, and address how the constraints of climate change could be overcome using smart crops. As a comprehensive reference text, Food Security and Safety: African Perspectives seeks to address challenges specific to the African continent while enhancing the global knowledge base around food security, food safety, and food production in an era of rapid climate change.

Preharvest Modulation of Postharvest Fruit and Vegetable Quality is the first book to focus on the potential yield quality, quantity and safety benefits of intervention during growth. Of the many factors responsible for overall quality of produce, about 70 percent comes from pre-harvest conditions. Written by an international team of experts, this book presents the key opportunities and challenges of pre-harvest interventions. From selecting the most appropriate growing scenario, to treating plants during the maturation process, to evaluating for quality factors to determine appropriate interventions, this book provides an integrated look at maximizing crop yield through preventative means. In fact, with the very best of postharvest knowledge and technologies available, the best that can be achieved is a reduction in the rate at which products deteriorate as they progress through their normal developmental pattern of maturation, ripening and senescence. Therefore, it is very important to understand what pre-harvest factors influence the many important harvest quality attributes that affect the rate of postharvest deterioration and, subsequently, the consumers’ decision to purchase the product in the marketplace. Presents the important pre-harvest factors that influence harvest quality Includes up-to-date information on pre-harvest factors that modulate post-harvest biology Identifies potential methodologies and technologies to enhance pre-harvest interventions

This book gives readers a practical introduction into machine learning and sensing techniques, their design and ultimately specific applications that could improve food production. It shows how these sensing and computing systems are suitable for process implementation in food factories. This book starts by giving the reader an overview of the historic structures of food manufacturing standards and how they defined today’s manufacturing. It is followed by a topical introduction for professionals in the food industries in topics such as AI, machine learning, and neural networks. It also includes an explanation of the different sensor systems and their basic principles. It shows how these sensing and computing systems are suitable for process implementation in food factories and what types of sensing systems have already been proven to deliver benefit to the food manufacturing industries. The authors also discuss issues around food safety, labelling, and traceability and how sensing and AI can help to resolve issues. They also use case studies and specific examples that can show the benefit of such technologies compared to current approaches. This book is a practical introduction and handbook for students, food engineers, technologists and process engineers on the benefits and challenges around modern manufacturing systems following Industry 4.0 approaches.

Globalization of the food supply has created conditions favorable for the emergence, reemergence, and spread of food-borne pathogens-compounding the challenge of anticipating, detecting, and effectively responding to food-borne threats to health. In the United States, food-borne agents affect 1 out of 6 individuals and cause approximately 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year. This figure likely represents just the tip of the iceberg, because it fails to account for the broad array of food-borne illnesses or for their wide-ranging repercussions for consumers, government, and the food industry-both domestically and internationally. A One Health approach to food safety may hold the promise of harnessing and integrating the expertise and resources from across the spectrum of multiple health domains including the human and veterinary medical and plant pathology communities with those of the wildlife and aquatic health and ecology communities. The IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop on December 13 and 14, 2011 that examined issues critical to the protection of the nation's food supply. The workshop explored existing knowledge and unanswered questions on the nature and extent of food-borne threats to health. Participants discussed the globalization of the U.S. food supply and the burden of illness associated with foodborne threats to health; considered the spectrum of food-borne threats as well as illustrative case studies; reviewed existing research, policies, and practices to prevent and mitigate foodborne threats; and, identified opportunities to reduce future threats to the nation's food supply through the use of a "One Health" approach to food safety. Improving Food Safety Through a One Health Approach: Workshop Summary covers the events of the workshop and explains the recommendations for future related workshops.