Abstract
Foodborne illness outbreaks associated with contaminated fruits, vegetables, and salads have led to a reexamination of means to improve agricultural, postharvest, and supply chain controls. Irradiation is an effective means of inactivating human pathogens on a variety of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. This chapter will describe and compare the technologies used to generate and apply irradiation. The literature on the efficacy of the process will be discussed and the commercial aspects of implementation will be examined, including issues related to packaging suitable for irradiation. Details will be presented on the regulations governing irradiation, both in the US and in major trading partners internationally. Finally, this chapter will summarize recent research related to this nonthermal processing technology as it can be applied to fresh produce for food safety purposes.
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Acknowledgments
The author extends thanks to David Geveke, Ph.D., and Joseph Sites, PE, for their thoughtful reviews of this manuscript. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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Niemira, B.A. (2018). Safety and Quality of Irradiated Fruits and Vegetables. In: Rosenthal, A., Deliza, R., Welti-Chanes, J., Barbosa-Cánovas, G. (eds) Fruit Preservation. Food Engineering Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3311-2_14
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