"The detailed variations at the level of the bacterial isolate, plant species and tissue type all need to be considered in risk assessments"
The complex landscape of plants and microbe interaction means that food safety specialists should consider fine detail and cannot generalise when carrying out risk assessments, new research by James Hutton Institute scientists has shown.
Fresh produce is an important vehicle for transmission of disease-causing bacteria like Eschericia coli, and experimental evidence shows that they can colonise plants as secondary hosts, but differences in the capacity to colonise occur between different plant species and tissues.
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