Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium commonly found in the gut of humans and warm-blooded animals. Most strains of E. coli are harmless and some provide many health benefits to the host; for example, they prevent colonisation of the gut by harmful pathogens. However, there are small groups of E. coli, referred to as pathogenic E. coli, that can cause severe disease in humans, which are well known to be transmitted by food and/or water and have been implicated in major foodborne outbreaks worldwide e.g. radish sprouts in Japan, sprouted seeds in Germany and France, raw / undercooked beef […]

In response to CFA members’ request this downloadable free best practice guidance on beetroot and onion has been developed for chilled food producers who are using raw salad and vegetable ingredients where the edible portion is grown in the ground and the final foods are (ready to eat) RTE. The two vegetables are among certain raw materials that can prove difficult to source and process satisfactorily for a ‘minimally processed RTE’ application. Both are deemed as a ‘high risk ingredient’ for a number of reasons: they are grown in soil and subject to more soil contamination; the small quantities used […]