Risk assessment of microbiological risk – fresh fruit and vegetable juices

Fresh fruit and vegetables are an important part of human nutrition, especially for the

high content of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. Currently, fruit and vegetable are sold

also in form of salads or juices. In today's flustered times, such ready-to-eat food are

increasingly gaining popularity among consumers. Fresh fruit and vegetables are also a source

of microorganisms that can cause alimentary infections and epidemics. These diseases can be

caused by poor hygiene or contamination during food processing and handling.

The aim of this work is to provide a comprehensive picture of the microbiological risk

of ready-to-eat fresh vegetable and fruit salads and beverages. The work highlights the

microbiota and colonization of plant matrices as well as diseases and epidemics related to

their consumption. It also deals with possible prevention or elimination of undesirable

microorganisms in food of plant origin. It contains the data of microbiological analyses

carried out as part of the monitoring performed by Laboratory of microbiology and

environment (Public Health Authority of the SR) and Laboratory of nutritive and

environmental microbiology (Department of Nutrition and Food Quality Assessment FCHPT

STU) in 2017 in Slovak Republic. Samples of fresh fruit and vegetables, salads, juices and

smoothies were collected in mass caterers and fast food stalls in 10 regions of the SR. The

highest number of positive samples was recorded for vegetable salads. In the case of smoothie

drinks, the presence of antibiotic resistant coliform bacteria and enterococci has also been

reported. In addition, bacteria causing pneumonia have also been identified in these drinks,

which can also endanger the staff preparing beverages in the form of bioaerosols produced

during preparation.