Study: Fresh Produce Bacteria Can Thrive Despite Routine Chlorine Sanitizing
The use of chlorine is quite common in the agricultural industry to sanitize fresh produce. Now, new research conducted by researchers at the University of Southampton indicates that chlorine could be making foodborne pathogens in fresh produce undetectable.
"VBNC cells cannot be detected by standard laboratory culture techniques, presenting a problem for the food and water supply industries, which uses these techniques to detect potential disease contaminants," says Bill Keevil, study author, professor, and head of the microbiology group at University of Southampton.