Chapter 9 - Produce and viruses—what's the problem?

Abstract

It has been nearly 2decades since the outbreak of hepatitis A associated with contaminated green onions that sickened over 600 individuals across multiple states in 2003 (CDC, 2003). The origin of contamination in this historically important outbreak was uncertain. Five years before that, in 1998, scientists stated that green onions implicated in another outbreak could have originated from one of two Mexican farms or a California farm, and speculated that a better understanding of how HAV might contaminate raw produce is needed. In these outbreaks as in several that are mentioned in this chapter, epidemiological data were critical to piecing the puzzle pieces together. This remains true today as clusters of viral illness may be difficult to detect and detection of viruses in irrigation water and on produce is challenging. Fruits and vegetables remain an essential part of a healthy lifestyle; therefore, continued focus on causes of produce contamination events, issues of globalization, virus interaction with produce, and risk assessment continue to be critical to food safety.