The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) have released a summary of the most recent Joint Expert Meetings on Microbial Risk Assessment (JERMA) session on the prevention and control of microbiological hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables. The meeting was held virtually on May 16–June 3, 2022, and was the final session in a series of JERMA discussions about control points and mitigation strategies for microbial risks associated with fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the entire supply chain.
The first JERMA meeting on the prevention and control of microbiological hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables was held in September 2021, and focused on fresh, ready-to-eat (RTE), and minimally processed fruits and vegetables, such as leafy greens. The second session was held in November 2021, in which a subcommittee focused on sprouts and seeds for sprouting. The third and final meeting discussed commodity-specific interventions for all other fresh fruits and vegetables of concern.