| Consumers are showing an increasing demand for uncooked and minimally processed vegetables preferentially from organic production lines. At the same time, outbreaks of disease have been traced back to the consumption of fresh plant produce contaminated with enteric pathogens such as pathogenic E. coli, Salmonella or Listeria. The PathOrganic project was aimed at assessing risks regarding the infestation of organically produced vegetables with human pathogens. However, the project also analyzed whether organic production may reduce the risk of pathogen manifestation due to improved soil buffering. Data relating to the current practice in organic vegetable production were assembled by research institutes from six European countries. As the vegetable... |
