Cross-contamination of lettuce with Escherichia coli O157:H7

Journal of Food Protection
Marian R Wachtel, Amy O Charkowski

Abstract

Contamination of produce by bacterial pathogens is an increasingly recognized problem. In March 1999, 72 patrons of a Nebraska restaurant were infected with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7, and shredded iceberg lettuce was implicated as the food source. We simulated the restaurant's lettuce preparation procedure to determine the extent of possible EHEC cross-contamination and growth during handling. EHEC inoculation experiments were conducted to simulate the restaurant's cutting procedure and the subsequent storage of shredded lettuce in water in the refrigerator. All lettuce pieces were contaminated after 24 h of storage in inoculated water (2 x 10(9) CFU of EHEC per 3 liters of water) at room temperature or at 4 degrees C; EHEC levels associated with lettuce increased by > 1.5 logs on the second day of storage at 4 degrees C. All lettuce pieces were contaminated after 24 h of storage in water containing one inoculated lettuce piece (approximately 10(5) CFU of EHEC per lettuce piece) at both temperatures. The mixing of one inoculated dry lettuce piece with a large volume of dry lettuce, followed by storage at 4 degrees C or 25 degrees C for 20 h resulted in 100% contamination of the leaves tested. Microcoloni...Continue Reading

References

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Mar 20, 2002·Journal of Food Protection·Marian R Wachtel, Amy O Charkowski
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Citations

Jul 23, 2003·Journal of Food Protection·Marian R WachtelMorse B Solomon
Feb 21, 2006·Emerging Infectious Diseases·Cecelia A WaughJohn F Lindo
Oct 10, 2008·Molecular Plant-microbe Interactions : MPMI·Courtney E JahnAmy O Charkowski
Dec 3, 2013·Journal of Food Protection·Erik ColemanDanny Ripley
Mar 20, 2002·Journal of Food Protection·Marian R Wachtel, Amy O Charkowski
Feb 21, 2008·Journal of Applied Microbiology·M P Doyle, M C Erickson
Apr 7, 2009·Journal of Food Protection·Peter J TaorminaMichael P Doyle
Nov 4, 2016·Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture·Yukiko WadamoriMalik A Hussain
Nov 1, 2007·Journal of Food Protection·Marilyn C Erickson, Michael P Doyle
Jul 20, 2010·Environmental Microbiology·Cedric N BergerGad Frankel
Oct 15, 2013·Letters in Applied Microbiology·J A WaittM A Ponder
Sep 4, 2016·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Robyn C Miranda, Donald W Schaffner
Nov 15, 2002·Journal of Food Protection·Xuetong Fan, Kimberly J B Sokorai
Sep 7, 2007·Journal of Food Protection·Pascal DelaquisLaura-Dorina Dinu
Sep 10, 2011·Journal of Food Protection·Shigenobu KosekiKazutaka Yamamoto
Dec 6, 2012·International Journal of Microbiology·Kashina Allydice-Francis, Paul D Brown
Jun 9, 2021·International Journal of Food Microbiology·Natalia CorbalánPaula Vincent

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