During the past decade, fruits and vegetables have become leading vehicles of food-borne
illnesses. Furthermore, many plant-based foods and ingredients, not previously considered
a risk, have been associated with food-borne disease outbreaks. Most of the pathogens that
have been identified as causative agents in these illnesses or outbreaks are enteric zoonotic
pathogens that are typically associated with animal hosts. Transmission of zoonotic
pathogens from animals to plant systems occurs by a variety of routes, but the initial …