Food Safety Innovations and Preventive Controls During Fresh and Fresh-cut Produce Washing, Packing, and Retail Display

The major goals of this project are to improve produce safety by reducing pathogen cross-contamination and proliferation through technological innovations and support for science- and risk-based food safety practices. Taking a holistic and systematic approach, we will partner with industry to address the following five objectives:Develop and validate food safety preventive controls for water use in fresh-cut processing and whole-produce packinghouse operation;Evaluate an innovative and transformative fresh-cut produce washing technology to improve food safety while maintaining quality;Advance understanding of fresh-cut washing processes, and develop novel technologies to improve efficacy;Evaluate effects on fresh-cut produce quality and safety, and energy use for open display and closed-door display case configurations;Evaluate economic, social, and environmental impacts of pathogen control technologies and practices; Disseminate scientific information to stakeholders and facilitate
adoption (integrated research-extension approach).