Microbial Contamination, an Increasing Threat to the Consumption of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Today’s World

Table 2

Some etiological agents isolated from various fruits and vegetables.

Pathogen	Product	Resultant complication or disease caused
Aeromonas	Alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, pepper, and spinach	Opportunistic systemic disease in immunocompromised patients
Bacillus cereus	Alfalfa sprouts, cress sprouts, cucumbers, mustard sprouts, and soybean sprouts	Food poisoning
Campylobacter jejuni	Green onions, lettuce, mushroom, potato, parsley, pepper, and spinach	Food poisoning
Clostridium botulinum	Cabbage, mushrooms, and pepper	Botulism
E. coli O157: H7	Alfalfa sprouts, apple juice, cabbage, celery, cilantro, coriander, cress sprouts, and lettuce	Bloody diarrhoea and abdominal cramps
Listeria monocytogenes	Bean sprouts, cabbage, chicory, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, potatoes, radish, salad vegetables, and tomato	Listeriosis
Salmonella spp.	Alfalfa sprouts, artichokes, beet leaves, celery, cabbage, cantaloupe, cauliflower, chili, cilantro, eggplant, endive, fennel, green onions, lettuce, mung bean sprouts, mustard cress, orange juice, parsley, pepper, salad greens, spinach, strawberries, tomato, and watermelon	Typhoid, salmonellosis, etc.
Shigella	Celery, cantaloupe, lettuce, parsley, and scallions	Shigellosis
Staphylococcus	Alfalfa sprouts, carrot, lettuce, onions sprouts, parsley, and radish	Food poisoning
Vibrio cholerae	Cabbage, coconut milk, and lettuce	Cholera
STEC	Salads	Diarrheal
Hepatitis A virus (HAV)	Blueberries	Hepatitis A
Cyclospora cayetanensis	Mango	Cyclosporiasis
Fasciola hepatica	Raw watercress	Worm infection
Helicobacter pylori	Basil, spinach, salad, parsley, leek, and radish	Gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and certain types of stomach cancer

(Atapoor et al. [85]; McDaniel and Jadeja, [86]; Yeni, Yavaş et al. [87]).