Recent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses occurred in Europe and USA have revealed a close correlation between pathogen contamination and leafy green vegetable consumption.
Nine governmental regional veterinary institutes named Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali (IZSs), namely Lombardia and Emilia Romagna (IZSLER), Piemonte and Liguria (IZSPLV), Veneto and Trentino Alto Adige (IZSVe), Sardegna (IZSSa), Lazio and Toscana (IZSLT), Campania and Calabria (IZSME), Puglia and Basilicata (IZSPB), Umbria and Marche (IZSUM), Sicilia (IZSPa) and the National Institute of Health, Microbiological Foodborne Hazard Unit (ISS Rome, Italy), were involved in the survey conducted in 18 of the 20 regions comprising Italy, and where 97.7% of the country's population resides.
The purpose of the survey was to evaluate the presence of foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella spp., L. monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, thermotolerant Campylobacter, Yersinia enterocolitica and norovirus GI and GII serogroups, in fresh and fresh-cut leafy vegetables available on the open market in Italy.
All regional laboratories used the same sampling procedures and analytical methods. The vegetable samples were screened using validated real-time PCR (RT-PCR) methods and standardized reference ISO culturing methods.
The results show that 3.7% of 1,372 fresh leafy vegetable products and only 1.8% of 1,160 "fresh-cut" or “ready-to-eat” (RTE) vegetable retailed in supermarkets or farm markets, were contaminated with one or more foodborne pathogens harmful to human health.
