Environmental Contamination with Parasites in Selected Rural Farms in the Philippines: Impacts of Farming Practices on Leafy Greens Food Safety

Consumption of locally, organically grown produce is increasing in popularity. Organic farms typically produce on a small scale, have limited resources, and adopt low technology harvest and postharvest handling practices. Data on the food safety risk associated with hand harvesting, field packing, and packing-house handling with minimal treatment, at this production scale, are lacking. We followed produce from small organic farms from the field through postharvest handling and packing. Pre- and postharvest produce (177 samples) and water (29 samples) were collected and analyzed quantitatively for Escherichia coli, total coliforms (TC), aerobic bacteria (APC), yeasts, molds (M), and enteric pathogens. No pathogens were recovered. E. coli was detected in 3 (3.6%) of 83 preharvest produce samples, 2 (6.3%) of 32 unwashed and 0 of 42 washed postharvest produce samples, and 10 (34.5%) of 29 water samples. No correlation was found between bacterial levels in irrigation water and those on produce. Postharvest handling without washing was a factor for APC and M counts on tomatoes, with lower frequencies postharvest. Postharvest handling with washing was a factor for leafy greens for TC counts, with higher frequencies postharvest. APC (P = 0.03) and yeast (P = 0.05) counts were higher in preharvest than in unwashed postharvest tomatoes. Washed postharvest leafy greens had higher M counts (P = 0.03) and other washed produce had higher TC counts (P = 0.01) than did their preharvest counterparts. Barriers were found to the use of sanitizer in wash water for leafy greens among small farms using organic practices. Hand harvesting and dry handling did not appear to be associated with a significant food safety risk, but washed leafy greens carried higher levels of some microbial indicators, possibly because of the lack of sanitizer in the wash water. The development of resources and materials customized for this sector of growers could enhance dissemination of information on best practices for handling of leafy greens.

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Occurrence of Chemical Contaminants in Peruvian Produce: A Food-Safety Perspective

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10071461 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 1461

Author(s):

Oscar A. Galagarza ◽

Alejandra Ramirez-Hernandez ◽

Haley F. Oliver ◽

Mariel V. Álvarez Rodríguez ◽

María del Carmen Valdez Ortiz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Food Safety ◽

Fruits And Vegetables ◽

Safety Issue ◽

Agricultural Products ◽

Mining Activities ◽

Farming Practices ◽

Chemical Contaminants ◽

Crop Varieties ◽

Andean Country

The presence of chemical contaminants in agricultural products is a continued food-safety challenge in Peru. This country has robust agriculture potential, but its output of fruits and vegetables is severely impacted by massive mining activities, as well as poor farming practices, including the use of polluted irrigation water, misuse of pesticides, and inadequate postharvest conditions. This review examines the current scientific knowledge on the levels of pesticide residues, heavy metals, and mycotoxins on crops produced in Peru. The available data shows that several crop varieties are contaminated with these classes of chemical contaminants, and at levels that exceed the national and international permissible limits. The abundance of chemical contaminants in produce indicates a relevant food-safety issue, which increases the risks of chronic human diseases, like cancer—a leading cause of death in Peru. Finally, this review presents recommendations to address these contamination problems in produce grown in the Andean country.

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Functional and genetic characterization of an incF-type multidrug resistance plasmid isolated from fresh spinach

10.1101/358887 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Adeyinka O. Ajayi ◽

Benjamin J. Perry ◽

Christopher K. Yost

Keyword(s):

Antibiotic Resistance ◽

Multidrug Resistance ◽

Food Safety ◽

Sequence Analysis ◽

Dna Sequence ◽

Resistance Genes ◽

Plasmid Dna ◽

Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽

Multidrug Resistant ◽

Leafy Greens

AbstractThe presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and clinically-relevant antibiotic resistance genes within raw foods is an on-going food safety concern. It is particularly important to be aware of the microbial quality of fresh produce because foods such as leafy greens including lettuce and spinach are minimally processed and often consumed raw therefore they often lack a microbial inactivation step. This study characterizes the genetic and functional aspects of a mobile, multidrug resistance plasmid, pLGP4, isolated from fresh spinach bought from a farmers’ market. pLGP4 was isolated using a bacterial conjugation approach. The functional characteristics of the plasmid were determined using multidrug resistance profiling and plasmid stability assays. pLGP4 was resistant to six of the eight antibiotics tested and included ciprofloxacin and meropenem. The plasmid was stably maintained within host strains in the absence of an antibiotic selection. The plasmid DNA was sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq high throughput sequencing approach and assembled into contigs using SPAdes. PCR mapping and Sanger DNA sequencing of PCR amplicons was used to complete the plasmid DNA sequence. Comparative sequence analysis determined that the plasmid was similar to plasmids that have been frequently associated with multidrug resistant clinical isolates of Klebsiella spp. DNA sequence analysis showed pLGP4 harboured qnrB1 and several other antibiotic resistance genes including three β-lactamases: blaTEM-1, blaCTX-M-15 and blaOXA-1. The detection of a multidrug-resistant, clinically-relevant plasmid on fresh spinach emphasizes the importance for vegetable producers to implement evidence-based food safety approaches into their production practises to ensure the food safety of leafy greens.

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Food Service Inspection Capacity: Needs Assessment in a Philippine Local Government Unit

J ◽

10.3390/j4030039 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 531-543

Author(s):

Wessam M. Atif ◽

Craig MacDonald

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Local Government ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Food Service ◽

The Philippines ◽

Observational Research ◽

Focus Group Discussions ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Food Inspection ◽

Service Inspection

Applying scientific evidence through risk analysis is an important orientation for the international frameworks that have informed the Philippines’ current food-safety legislation. When implementing this legislation, local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines deal with manifold critical responsibilities using various product-based inspection procedures. This qualitative study was conducted at the end of 2017 with a focus on exploring one LGU’s food service inspection practices. The twofold aim was to find needs in the current food inspection capacity, and to illuminate how risk-based legislation is enacted among LGUs in the Philippines. Taking a discursive approach to help explain and describe the LGU’s practices and needs, the methods included an analysis of administrative documents, focus-group discussions, and observational research. This study explains the LGU’s role in carrying out food agencies’ national responsibilities; it also describes how, if adequate resources were available, new roles could exist for food safety officers and food inspectors. In conclusion, fulfilling the LGU’s needs with respect to national and regional standards would require implementation of a risk-based approach for food inspection.

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Evaluation of the Microbiological Quality of Conventional and Organic Leafy Greens at the Time of Purchase from Retail Markets in Alexandria, Egypt

Polish Journal of Microbiology ◽

10.33073/pjm-2014-031 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 63 (2) ◽

pp. 237-243 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

ROWAIDA KHALIL ◽

MOHAMED GOMAA

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Foodborne Pathogens ◽

Microbiological Quality ◽

Plate Method ◽

Street Vendors ◽

Retail Markets ◽

E Coli ◽

Leafy Greens ◽

Daily Diet

This is a pioneer study in Egypt that provides some assessment of the microbiological quality of conventional and organic leafy green vegetables that constitute an essential component of the Egyptians' daily diet. A total of 380 samples of unpackaged whole conventional and 84 packaged whole organic leafy greens were collected from retail markets in Alexandria, and analyzed for total aerobic mesophilic count (AMC) and total E. coli count (ECC) using the standard spread plate method. Mean AMC values for organic samples were statistically less (p < 0.05) than those of the corresponding conventional samples. Conventional radish and organic parsley samples had the highest AMC of 7.17 and 7.68 log CFU/g respectively, while conventional green cabbage and organic basil had the lowest AMC of 3.63 and 3.23 log CFU/g respectively. The presence of E. coli in 100% of the studied leafy greens was indicative of potential fecal contamination, in view of open and unhygienic environmental and unsanitary handling conditions, as leafy green items are available for sale by street-vendors. Unsatisfactory AMC and ECC levels encountered in the studied samples, warrant future investigations to determine the potential prevalence of foodborne pathogens, and to identify sources of dominating microorganisms, which could make a contribution to the field of food safety.

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A Novel Approach To Enhance Food Safety: Industry-Academia-Government Partnership for Applied Research

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-72.7.1509 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 72 (7) ◽

pp. 1509-1512 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

MICHAEL T. OSTERHOLM ◽

JULIE OSTROWSKY ◽

JEFF A. FARRAR ◽

ROBERT B. GRAVANI ◽

ROBERT V. TAUXE ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Foodborne Pathogens ◽

Applied Research ◽

Future Research ◽

Advisory Panel ◽

Safety Issues ◽

Leafy Greens ◽

Safety Research ◽

Novel Approach ◽

Entry Points

An independent collaborative approach was developed for stimulating research on high-priority food safety issues. The Fresh Express Produce Safety Research Initiative was launched in 2007 with $2 million in unrestricted funds from industry and independent direction and oversight from a scientific advisory panel consisting of nationally recognized food safety experts from academia and government agencies. The program had two main objectives: (i) to fund rigorous, innovative, and multi-disciplinary research addressing the safety of lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens and (ii) to share research findings as widely and quickly as possible to support the development of advanced safeguards within the fresh-cut produce industry. Sixty-five proposals were submitted in response to a publicly announced request for proposals and were competitively evaluated. Nine research projects were funded to examine underlying factors involved in Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination of lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens and potential strategies for preventing the spread of foodborne pathogens. Results of the studies, published in the Journal of Food Protection, help to identify promising directions for future research into potential sources and entry points of contamination and specific factors associated with harvesting, processing, transporting, and storing produce that allow contaminants to persist and proliferate. The program provides a model for leveraging the strengths of industry, academia, and government to address high-priority issues quickly and directly through applied research. This model can be productively extended to other pathogens and other leafy and nonleafy produce.

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Evaluation of food safety related behaviors of retail and food service employees while handling fresh and fresh-cut leafy greens

Food Control ◽

10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.02.044 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 67 ◽

pp. 199-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jihee Choi ◽

Hillary Norwood ◽

Soobin Seo ◽

Sujata A. Sirsat ◽

Jack Neal

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Food Service ◽

Service Employees ◽

Leafy Greens ◽

Fresh Cut ◽

Food Service Employees

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Cadmium and Chromium in Selected Canned Goods Commercially Available in the Philippines

JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research ◽

10.7719/jpair.v20i1.316 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Judilynn N. Solidum

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Food Safety ◽

Environmental Protection Agency ◽

The Philippines ◽

Blood Levels ◽

Flame Atomic Absorption ◽

Canned Fish ◽

Fish Samples ◽

Canned Meat ◽

Meat Samples

Heavy metals are both naturally occurring and anthropogenic such that even processed food canned for easy marketing and handling may be contaminated with it. This study aimed to determine the presence or absence of cadmium and chromium in canned fish and meat commercially available in the Philippines. Acid digestion was employed to the solid fish and meat samples prior to quantitative instrumental analysis using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS). The results showed that the canned meat and fish samples tested all contained cadmium and chromium. None of the canned fish and meat samples went beyond the limit for cadmium in food. Canned fish all went beyond the limit for chromium on both California and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits. Only CF2 and CF8 went beyond the Center for Food Safety limit in Hong Kong. For canned meat samples, all went beyond the limit set for chromium relative to California EPA standards but not on US EPA and Center for food Safety in Hong Kong limits. All of the levels of cadmium as projected mathematically did not go beyond the acceptable blood levels for both the samples of canned meat and fish. Concentration of chromium from meat when projected in blood did not exceed the safe levels while chromium in CF2 and CF8 exceeded the acceptable blood amounts as mathematically projected. Keywords– Environmental Toxicology, cadmium, chromium, canned goods, FAAS, Philippines

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FARMING PRACTICES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION OF ONION FARMERS IN THE PHILIPPINES

International Journal of Ecosystems and Ecology Science (IJEES) ◽

10.31407/ijees10.420 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 715-720

Author(s):

John Rey B. Quiñones ◽

◽

Roel S. Ang

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Adaptation ◽

The Philippines ◽

Farming Practices

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Pathogenic Escherichia coli: An Overview on Pre-Harvest Factors that Impact the Microbial Safety of Leafy Greens

10.5772/intechopen.101552 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Aura Darabă

Keyword(s):

Escherichia Coli ◽

Food Safety ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Contamination Level ◽

Microbial Safety ◽

Foodborne Illnesses ◽

Leafy Greens ◽

Pathogenic Escherichia Coli ◽

On Farm

Consumption of fresh leafy greens has been repeatedly reported and linked to pathogenic Escherichia coli-associated foodborne illnesses outbreaks. Leafy greens are mostly eaten raw, based on the increased consumers’ preferences for natural, nutritious diets. Recent studies indicate the incidence of infections caused by pathogenic Escherichia coli remained almost unchanged or even increased. In this context, fresh produces increased the awareness about their primary contamination level, namely the pre-harvest phase. Fully eliminating pathogenic Escherichia coli from pre-harvest environment proved to be impossible. Emphasis must be placed on the pre-harvest factors that affect the food safety and, subsequently, on the identification of possible mitigation strategies that can be used on-farm for reducing the risk of leafy greens contamination with pathogenic Escherichia coli.

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