article_snippet: Food poisoning affects one in six Americans every year caused by rotting meat and vegetables, dirty water and unhygienic kitchens.
article_snippet: ‘Fruit and vegetables can become contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms anywhere in Fruit and vegetables production chain, starting from the field or orchard, during harvest, transport, processing, distribution, and marketing, or during preparation in food-service establishments and in the home(from farm to fork route),’ the scientists write in the scientists study, published in the journal of Environmental Science and Technology.
article_snippet: ‘Possible pathogen sources include contaminated irrigation water, animals, birds, insects, soil, manure, and infected workers/food handlers.
article_snippet: Think of food poisoning and you may immediately consider raw meat to be the culprit.
article_snippet: But raw or minimally processed fruit and vegetables can be a source of pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites their study said.
article_snippet: Every year in the US, approximately 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalised, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.
article_snippet: Between 1990 and 2005, contaminated fresh produce accounted for 13 per cent of all reported food borne outbreaks and for 21 per cent of reported illnesses.
article_snippet: In Europe, fresh produce of non-animal origin accounted for 10 per cent of the outbreaks, 26 per cent of the cases, 35 per cent of the hospitalisations, and 46 per cent of deaths between years 2007−2011, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).