An official website of the United States government.
Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are often considered among the most healthful and safe foodstuffs, yet newdisease-causing microorganisms continue to emerge and an increasing number of outbreaks are being traced to fresh produce. With the understanding that no single preservation technique will effectively destroy pathogens while maintaining quality, our objective is to determine the optimum levels of irradiation, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP),and chlorination that will enhance safety while preserving sensory attributes such as texture, color, and flavor.
Selected products include shredded iceberg lettuce and shredded cabbage and other minimally processed vegetables in which the cut surfaces provide a substrate for the proliferation of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. Conventional sanitizing procedures are inadequate, however, harsher treatments can affect fresh-like quality. Because irradiation has the ability to penetrate inside cells, it can be highly effective to treat these products. Additionally, chlorination can destroy surface contamination while MAP can extend storage time. Together these techniques can reduce overall levels of microorganisms and hence enhance safety with the added benefit of extending shelf-life. In the absence of immediately applicable solutions, this project will reveal the efficacy of combination processing to address the emerging safety issues associated with minimally processed vegetables. The added security, as well as the economic benefit of shelf-life extension, should encourage consumers and processors to utilize this novel combination of accepted and proven technologies.