Risk assessment of microbial and chemical contamination in fresh produce

Abstract: Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses related to the consumption of fresh produce occur all over the world. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) for fresh produce can be used to enhance microbiological safety in the production, distribution and consumption of fresh produce. This chapter describes the prevalence of contamination of fresh produce, possible routes of pathogen contamination and pathogen behaviour on fresh produce during distribution. The information described here will be useful for QMRA as supporting knowledge.