Microbiological Water Quality Requirements for Salad Irrigation in the United Kingdom

The growth in United Kingdom salad production is dependent on irrigation to maintain product quality. There are concerns that irrigation with poor-quality water could pose a disease risk. This article examines the key issues in the emerging debate on the microbiological quality of water used for sal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of food protection 2006-08, Vol.69 (8), p.2029-2035
Main Authors: Tyrrel, S.F, Knox, J.W, Weatherhead, E.K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture - methods
Agriculture - standards
Biological and medical sciences
cross contamination
Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control
disease prevention
food contamination
Food industries
Food Microbiology
food pathogens
Foodborne Diseases - prevention & control
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
irrigation water
Lactuca - microbiology
on-farm food safety
pandemic
Public Health
risk management process
salads
United Kingdom
Water Microbiology - standards
water pollution
water quality
water quality standards
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Summary:The growth in United Kingdom salad production is dependent on irrigation to maintain product quality. There are concerns that irrigation with poor-quality water could pose a disease risk. This article examines the key issues in the emerging debate on the microbiological quality of water used for salad irrigation in the United Kingdom. The links between irrigation water quality and foodborne disease, and the current international guidance on irrigation water quality, are firstly reviewed. The findings indicate that a number of recent food-poisoning outbreaks have been linked to the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and that unhygienic product handling is implicated as the principal source of contamination. There is also credible evidence that salads contaminated in the field, including by irrigation water, can pose a small disease risk at the point of sale. Although irrigation water-quality standards exist in various forms internationally, there is no nationally agreed on standard used in the United Kingdom. This paper then describes the results of a survey conducted in 2003 of United Kingdom irrigation practices that might influence the microbiological quality of salads. The survey showed that surface water is the principal irrigation water source, that overhead irrigation predominates, that the gap between the last irrigation and harvest may be
ISSN:0362-028X
1944-9097
DOI:10.4315/0362-028X-69.8.2029