1. Microbial hazards in fruits and

1. Microbial hazards in fruits and vegetables
The quality of food can be adversely affected by physical,
chemical, biochemical and microbiological processes.
Quality deterioration caused by microorganisms may
include a wide range of types of spoilage that are
undesirable commercially, because they limit shelf life or
lead to quality complaints, but are safe from a public health
point of view. More seriously, the presence or growth of
infectious or toxinogenic microorganisms (foodborne
pathogens) represent the worst forms of quality deterioration,
because they threaten the health of the consumer (ICMSF,
1996). Therefore, while the aim of effective food
preservation is to control all forms of quality deterioration,
the overriding priority is always to minimize the potential
for the occurrence and growth of food spoilage and food
poisoning microorganisms (ICMSF, 1996).
Despite the extensive scientific progress and
technological developments achieved in recent years, food
safety problems continue to exist and may actually increase
in the future. It is estimated that foodborne pathogens cause
approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations,
and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year, most due to
unknown causative agents (Mead et al., 1999). Among the
know pathogens associated with foodborne illnesses, there
is an increasing involvement of environmentally resistant
and host-adapted species or strains, which may be difficult
to inactivate or control with traditional food preservation
methods (Alterkruse et al., 1997; Foster, 1997; Tauxe, 1997)