Decontamination and survival of Enterobacteriaceae on shredded iceberg lettuce during storage.

Enterobacteriaceae family can contaminate fresh produce at any stage of production either at pre-harvest or post-harvest stages. The objectives of the current study were to i) identify Enterobacteriaceae species on iceberg lettuce, ii) compare the decontamination efficiency of water, sodium hypochlorite (free chlorine 200 ppm), peroxyacetic acid (PA 80 ppm; Kenocid 2100) or their combinations and ionizing radiation against Enterobacteriaceae on shredded iceberg lettuce and iii) determine the survival of Enterobacteriaceae post-treatment storage of shredded iceberg lettuce at 4, 10 and 25 °C, for up to 7 days. Klebsiella pneumonia spp.