In recent years, food borne illness associated with fresh produce has
become more common (EFSA, 2013). The main challenges with the food
safety of fresh produce are that these products are often grown outside
in an uncontrollable environment where they are exposed to contamination
from different sources and are often consumed raw and without
any forms of risk reducing treatments, such as heat treatment. The contamination
of fresh produce with hazardous microorganisms is also heterogeneous,
unevenly spread and most likely present in low numbers.
This makes it very difficult to detect the presence of foodborne pathogens
such as Salmonella spp. or others during routine sampling.