Advances in Ensuring the Microbiological Safety of Fresh Produce

Dr Karl R. Matthews is Professor of Food Microbiology and past Chair and Undergraduate Program Director of the Department of Food Science at Rutgers University, USA. He is a Fulbright Scholar and Fulbright Specialist promoting food safety. Professor Matthews is Associate Editor of Frontiers in Sustainable Food and Agriculture, sits on the board of several other journals, is co-author of a standard text on food microbiology (now in its fourth edition) and has edited a major reference on the microbiology of fresh produce.Dr Jinhe Bai's research program focuses on preserving the postharvest quality of fruits and vegetables. Specific areas of expertise include controlled-atmosphere storage, modified atmosphere packaging, and edible coating technologies, and discovery of how internal and environmental factors influence metabolism and further impact flavor and nutritional quality of horticultural crops.

• Part 1 Pathogenic risks1.Advances in understanding contamination of fresh produce by Salmonella: Shirley A. Micallef, University of Maryland, USA;2.Advances in understanding and presenting contamination of fresh produce by Listeria monocytogenes: Xinyi Zhou and Wei Zhang, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA;3.Advances in understanding contamination of fresh produce by pathogenic Escherichia coli: Karl R. Matthews, Rutgers University, USA;Part 2 Detection and risk assessment4.Developments in rapid detection/high throughput screening techniques for identifying pathogens in food: Kannappan Arunachalam and Chunlei Shi, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China;5.Advances in modelling pathogen behaviour in fresh produce: Panagiotis N. Skandamis, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece;6.Advances in quantitative microbiological risk assessment for pathogens in fresh produce: Donald W. Schaffner, Rutgers University, USA; Marina Girbal, University of Barcelona, Spain; Matt Igo, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, USA; and Kaitlyn Casulli, University of Georgia, USA;Part 3 Improving safety along the value chain7.Advances in understanding sources of pathogenic contamination of fresh produce: soil and soil amendments: Alexis Omar, University of Delaware, USA; Manan Sharma, USDA-ARS, USA; and Kalmia E. Kniel, University of Delaware, USA;8.The role of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in preventing pathogenic microbial contamination of fresh produce: Thomas P. Saunders and Elizabeth A. Bihn, Produce Safety Alliance – Cornell University, USA;9.Advances in sanitising techniques and their assessment for assuring the safety of fresh produce: Silvia Vanessa Camacho Martinez, Mahdiyeh Hasani, Lara Jane Warriner and Keith Warriner, University of Guelph, Canada;10.Developments in packaging techniques and their assessment for assuring the safety of fresh produce: Jinhe Bai, Gabriela Maria Olmedo and Xiuxiu Sun, USDA-ARS, USA;11.The role of good manufacturing practice and hazard analysis and critical control point systems in maintaining the safety of minimally processed fresh produce: Carol A. Wallace, Jan M. Soon and Shingai P. Nyarugwe, University of Central Lancashire, UK;12.Improving safe consumer handling of fresh produce: Jennifer Quinlan and Melissa Kavanaugh, Drexel University, USA;