Growth and Survival of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella on Whole and Sliced Cucumbers.

Cucumbers were associated with four multistate outbreaks of Salmonella in the United States between 2013 and 2016. This study evaluated the fate of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella on whole and sliced cucumbers at various storage temperatures. Cucumbers were inoculated with five-strain cocktails of L.

Agricultural Practices Influence Contamination and Survival in Pre-harvest Tomato Production.

Between 2000 and 2010 the Eastern Shore of Virginia was implicated in four outbreaks associated with tomato. Therefore, a multi-year study (2012-2015) was performed to investigate presumptive factors associated with the contamination of within tomato fields at Virginia Tech's Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Factors including irrigation water sources (pond and well), type of soil amendment: fresh poultry litter (PL), PL ash, and a conventional fertilizer (triple superphosphate - TSP), and production practices: staked with plastic mulch (SP), staked without plastic mulch (SW), and non-staked without plastic mulch (NW), were evaluated by split-plot or complete-block design.

Microbial Quality of Agricultural Water Used in Produce Preharvest Production on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Several produce-borne outbreaks have been associated with the use of contaminated water during preharvest applications. Salmonella has been implicated in a number of these outbreaks. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the microbial quality of agricultural surface water used in preharvest production on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in accordance with the Food Safety Modernization Act's Produce Safety Rule water standards.