Assessing Romaine Lettuce â¿¿Forward Processingâ¿? for Potential Impacts on EHEC Growth, Antimicrobial Susceptibility, and Infectivity

a. Comprehensive assessment of forward processing practice under routine operation conditions for product integrity and microbiological quality. b. Assessment of microbiome dynamics on Romaine lettuce from harvest to retail for products being forward and source processed. c. Determine the impacts of different practices on EHEC outbreak strains, on cell physiology that may affect their growth potential, susceptibility to antimicrobial treatment, or virulence. d. Improvement of forward processing management by applying findings above.