Experiences of teachers and students on school closures and its consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nyarugusu refugee camp, Tanzania.

Tanzania has experienced several waves of COVID-19 since it was first detected in the country. During the first wave, Tanzania took several measures to prevent wider virus transmission with school closures being one of them. All areas and institutions were targeted, including the refugee camps in Kigoma region. Despite the abundant evidence generated in relation to the effects of the pandemic and associated school closures globally, there has been a paucity of literature exploring the experiences of teachers and students in humanitarian settings. We conducted a qualitative study to explore COVID-19 related school closures in Nyarugusu refugee camp. We aimed to describe teachers' and students' experiences and perceived consequences of school closures. In-depth interviews with teachers and students were conducted in September 2020 in Burundian and Congolese schools in the context of a cluster randomised trial of EmpaTeach, a school-based violence prevention intervention. A total of 44 individuals (29 teachers and 15 students) were interviewed. A phenomenological theoretical framework was used to guide the content analysis. Findings indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic was generally seen as frightening by refugees. Study participants understood the importance of school closures to prevent transmission of the virus, but various negative consequences were reported by both teachers and students. These included perceived mental health difficulties such as stress, depression and anxiety associated with the worry of infection, idleness, and disruption of education. Participants also perceived an increase in occurrences of early marriages and unplanned pregnancies, which they thought contributed to increased school dropout. Participants identified the main causes of such outcomes as a lack of parental supervision, children's lack of restraint and poor character, and a lack of alternative teaching practices (such as online or remote learning) to keep the students busy while at home. Children were held accountable for their faults with little support from the adults. Our findings suggest that there is an urgent need to strengthen child protection programming to support children and their communities during emergencies and provides protective environments such as school and education. There is a critical need to develop preparedness plans for future pandemics to support child safety, academic development and wellbeing.

Conceptualisation of violence and discipline among students, teachers, and parents in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Little academic research has been conducted on how people conceptualise 'violence' and 'discipline', especially in humanitarian settings. This may limit the transferability of violence prevention interventions. This paper examines the understanding of violence and discipline concepts among students, teachers, and parents in the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Tanzania. METHODS: A qualitative study was undertaken as part of the larger trial testing the effectiveness of the EmpaTeach intervention to prevent physical violence from teachers to students implemented in 27 schools in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp. Data from baseline and midline surveys in control schools that did not receive the intervention informed this paper where a total of 14 in-depth interviews (eight with students and six teachers) and six focus group discussions (two with teachers and four with parents from the Parent Teacher Association) were analyzed. Both audio recordings from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim, and translated from Kiswahili to English (Congolese) and Kirundi to English (Burundian). Translated data were verified and coded using thematic analysis based on the views of students, teachers, and parents. RESULTS: Participants revealed that the same behavioural acts could be differentially classified as violence or discipline. Violence was understood in relation to the consequences of acts, which could include physical or psychological harm, or other harms which were seen as detrimental to children's futures and life chances, particularly adolescent pregnancy. Sexual acts without consent were also seen as violence. In contrast, discipline was understood according to intent, and perceived acts done towards students to correct bad behaviour. CONCLUSION: Results imply that education about the harmful consequences of behavioural acts intended as discipline, may be important for violence prevention interventions and that framing interventions in terms of positive child development could help change discipline strategies in schools.

Qualitative process evaluation of the EmpaTeach intervention to reduce teacher violence in schools in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: We explored the experiences and perceptions of school staff and students with the EmpaTeach intervention to prevent teachers' violence against school students. DESIGN: This qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with 58 and 39 participants at midline and endline, respectively, with Burundian and Congolese intervention schools in Nyarugusu refugee camp. They comprised three education coordinators of primary and secondary schools, 29 EmpaTeach intervention coordinators, 14 stakeholders including headteachers and discipline teachers, 25 classroom teachers and 26 students. Thematic analysis was used to develop codes by examining the content of quotes to capture key themes in line with the key elements of the programme theory. RESULTS: Coordinators and teachers widely reported positive experiences with the EmpaTeach programme. The intervention sessions enabled teachers to reflect on their own values and experiences of corporal punishment and equipped them with useful and acceptable classroom management and alternative discipline strategies. Teachers adopted the use of counselling, praise and reward, and joint discussions with students and parents. On the other hand, several teachers reported persistent use of corporal punishment which they attributed to children's (mis)behaviours and strong beliefs that beating was a positive approach to disciplining students. CONCLUSION: The majority of coordinators and teachers widely accepted the EmpaTeach intervention as it offered useful and relevant knowledge and skills on alternative disciplinary methods. Students noticed some positive changes on the way they were being disciplined by teachers, where non-violent methods were used. Further research is needed to understand how violence prevention interventions can successfully lead to reductions in violence in fragile settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03745573.

Exploring children's formal help-seeking behaviour for violence in Zimbabwe: analysis of national survey and routine service provider data.

OBJECTIVES: To explore knowledge of formal services and help-seeking behaviour for violence among Zimbabwean children aged 18 years and under. DESIGN: We use cross-sectional data from the 2017 Zimbabwe Violence Against Children Survey (VACS), which is nationally representative and had a 72% response rate for female participants and 66% for males; and anonymised routine data from one of the largest child protection service providers' (Childline Zimbabwe) call database. SETTING: Zimbabwe. PARTICIPANTS: We analysed data from 13 to 18 year old participants in the 2017 VACS and pertaining to respondents aged 18 years and under from Childline Zimbabwe's call database. MEASURES/ANALYSIS: We describe characteristics of children, and fit unadjusted and logistic regression models to estimate associations between selected characteristics and help-seeking knowledge and behaviours. RESULTS: 1339 of 4622 children aged 13-18 years surveyed for the 2017 VACS in Zimbabwe (29.8%) reported experience of lifetime physical and/or sexual violence. Of these, 829 (57.3%) children did not know where to seek formal help, 364 (33.1%) children knew where to seek help but did not, and 139 (9.6%) children knew where to seek help and did seek help. Boys were more likely to know where to seek help, but girls were more likely to actually seek help. During the 6-month period when VACS survey data were being collected, Childline received 2177 calls where the main reason for the call was recorded as violence against someone aged 18 years or under. These 2177 calls contained more reports from girls and children in school, versus the national profile of children who had experienced violence. Few children who did not seek help reported not wanting services. Most children who did not seek help reported that they felt at fault or that their safety would be put at risk by disclosure. CONCLUSION: Both awareness of services and help-seeking are gendered, suggesting that different strategies may be needed to support boys and girls to access the help they want. Childline in particular may be well placed to expand its outreach to boys and to receive more reports of school-related violence, and should consider efforts to reach out-of-school children.

The 5†K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5†K.

Recent years have witnessed great interest in mass-participation running events (1), and organisations such as parkrun and fitness programmes like Couch to 5 K, have been instrumental in enabling participation for inexperienced runners. Concomitant with this has been a number of fictional works which centre on the 5 K run. I contend that exploring fictional texts can offer a fresh take on how movements such as parkrun and Couch to 5 K have entered the popular imagination. The four texts explored are Wake's Saturday Morning Park Run (2020), Park's A Run in the Park (2019), Boleyn's Coming Home to Cariad Cove (2022), and James's I Follow You (2020). The analysis is arranged thematically around the categories of health promotion, individual transformation, and community building. I argue that these texts frequently operate as health promotion tools and can help familiarise would-be runners with how parkrun and Couch to 5 K work.

Remote methods for research on violence against women and children: lessons and challenges from research during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Collecting data to understand violence against women and children during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to inform violence prevention and response efforts. Although researchers across fields have pivoted to remote rather than in-person data collection, remote research on violence against women, children and young people poses particular challenges. As a group of violence researchers, we reflect on our experiences across eight studies in six countries that we redesigned to include remote data collection methods. We found the following areas were crucial in fulfilling our commitments to participants, researchers, violence prevention and research ethics: (1) designing remote data collection in the context of strong research partnerships; (2) adapting data collection approaches; (3) developing additional safeguarding processes in the context of remote data collection during the pandemic; and (4) providing remote support for researchers. We discuss lessons learnt in each of these areas and across the research design and implementation process, and summarise key considerations for other researchers considering remote data collection on violence.

National COVID-19 lockdown and trends in help-seeking for violence against children in Zimbabwe: an interrupted time-series analysis.

BACKGROUND: An estimated 1.8 billion children live in countries where COVID-19 disrupted violence prevention and response. It is important to understand how government policies to contain COVID-19 impacted children's ability to seek help, especially in contexts where there was limited formal help-seeking prior to the pandemic. We aimed to quantify how the national lockdown in Zimbabwe affected helpline calls for violence against children, estimated the number of calls that would have been received had the lockdown not occurred and described characteristics of types of calls and callers before and after the national lockdown. METHODS: We used an interrupted time series design to analyse the proportion of violence related calls (17,913 calls out of 57,050) to Childline Zimbabwe's national child helpline between 2017 to 2021. We applied autoregressive integrated moving average regression (ARIMA) models to test possible changes in call trends before and after the March 2020 lockdown and forecasted how many calls would have been received in the absence of lockdown. In addition, we examined call characteristics before and after lockdown descriptively. RESULTS: The proportion of violence related calls decreased in the 90 days after the lockdown and subsequently returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. We estimate that 10.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.0-14.6%) more violence related calls would have occurred in this period had there not been a lockdown. Violence was increasingly reported as occurring in children's households, with fewer reports from children and formal child protection actors. CONCLUSIONS: Lockdowns dramatically change everyday life and strain populations, which is unlikely to reduce violence prevalence but may reduce help-seeking. The three months after COVID-19 lockdowns may be key time periods when help-seeking for violence decreases drastically. Policy makers should ensure that in-person and remote services support help-seeking. Interventions and campaigns may additionally want to target adult female family members in encouraging reporting of suspected violence cases when they occur within households and are perpetuated by other family members. We suggest a composite approach of scaling-up remote reporting mechanisms that are accessible and geographically well-distributed, establishing non-traditional sites for help seeking within communities and continuing limited in-person home visitation for known cases of violence.

'I went there in an effort to help the child, but you can see there is corruption in the world': Adults' conceptualisations and enactments of child protection in schools in a challenging context.

Schools have the potential to be sites of support for vulnerable children, but can also be sites of violence perpetration. In this qualitative study we explore how adult school stakeholders in and around two public Catholic primary schools in Zimbabwe conceptualise and enact child protection. We analysed our findings in light of the protracted economic crisis in Zimbabwe; the current policy context for child protection; and the Covid-19 pandemic. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 adult education stakeholders in and around one rural and one urban school in the Harare Archdiocese, from October 2020 to January 2021. This comprised 12 school-level stakeholders, including teachers (N = 4), parents (N = 4), school priests (N = 2), and headteachers (N = 2), who were the main focus of this study, and a further 6 high-level education actors. We employed thematic analysis. Adults in this study placed considerable responsibility on children to protect themselves, with often unreasonably high expectations of children's capacity to prevent abuse. At times they also blamed and stigmatised children, which was gendered, and particularly emerged around adolescent sexuality. Our findings suggest that this was linked to social norms around discipline, protection and gender, but in particular, the way these emerged in relation to the challenges of the context. Policy and interventions to promote child protection in schools in Zimbabwe should incorporate both an attention to the challenges teachers face in contexts of adversity, as well as address a tendency for adult school stakeholders to hold children responsible for their own protection.

Use of a silver-based sanitizer to accelerate Escherichia coli die-off on fresh-cut lettuce and maintain produce quality during cold storage: Laboratory and pilot-plant scale tests.

Outbreaks and product recalls involving romaine and iceberg lettuce are frequently reported in the United States. Novel technologies are needed to inactivate pathogens without compromising product quality and shelf life. In this study, the effects of a process aid composed of silver dihydrogen citrate, glycerin, and lactic acid (SGL) on Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes concentrations on lettuce immediately after washing and during cold storage were evaluated. Sensory and quality attributes of fresh-cut iceberg lettuce were also evaluated. Laboratory results indicated that application of SGL solution for 30 s as a first step in the washing process resulted in a 3.15 log reduction in E. coli O157:H7 immediately after washing. For E. coli O157:H7 a significant difference between SGL treatment and all other treatments was maintained until day 7. On day zero, SGL led to a 2.94 log reduction of L. monocytogenes. However, there was no significant difference between treatments with or without SGL regardless of storage time. Pilot-plant results showed that samples receiving SGL spray followed by chlorinated flume wash exhibited a greater reduction (1.48 log) in nonpathogenic E. coli populations at the end of shelf life than other treatments (p < 0.05). Additional pilot plant tests were conducted to investigate the hypothesis that SGL residues could continue to impact microbial survival on the final washed lettuce. Results show that pathogens introduced subsequent to flume washing of lettuce pretreated with SGL solution were not affected by antimicrobial residues. The final quality and shelf life of flume washed lettuce were also unaffected by pretreatment with SGL. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that this new technology has the potential to accelerate E. coli die-off on fresh-cut lettuce during cold storage and improve product safety, while not affecting quality throughout the shelf life of the finished products.

Open-Label assessment of the efficacy and tolerability of a skin care regimen for treating subjects with visible and physical symptoms of sensitive skin.

BACKGROUND: Sensitive skin is a common concern with 60%-70% of women and 50%-60% of men reporting skin sensitivity and redness. Facial redness is associated with a higher incidence of embarrassment, social anxiety, and diminished quality of life. While there is no cure for sensitive skin, it can be controlled. AIMS: The objective of this 12-week, open-label clinical trial was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of a topical facial regimen for treating subjects with facial redness and sensitive skin. PATIENTS/METHODS: Enrolled subjects were healthy male and female individuals, 25-60 years old with Fitzpatrick skin types I-VI who were seeking treatment for moderate or severe facial redness. Subjects were provided with products which were applied each morning and evening. The investigator assessed change in subject appearance using Overall Redness and Global Improvement Scales and subjects rated changes in appearance and tolerability with self-assessment scales. RESULTS: The mean Overall Redness Scale Score improved by 34% and 25% at Weeks 8 and 12, respectively. There was Mild or Moderate improvement in Global Improvement Scale scores beginning at Week 2 with over 50% achieving Marked improvement by Week 12. All subjects Agreed or Strongly Agreed that their facial redness was less noticeable, their skin appeared less inflamed, overall skin appearance improved, and skin looked and felt healthier at Week 12. The regimen was well-tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated a treatment regimen designed to neutralize skin redness and calm inflamed skin was well-tolerated and improved the symptoms of sensitive skin.

Test-Retest Reliability of Postural Control Assessment on Biodex BioSway™.

Background: Recent protocols for posturographic assessment of postural control and balance have included head shake test conditions to challenge the vestibular contributions of postural control in an effort to increase the diagnostic accuracy of identifying individuals with impaired balance. However, evidence is limited regarding the test-retest reliability of such assessment protocols. Purpose: The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine the test-retest reliability of postural control assessment on the Biodex Biosway™, an accessible and field expedient tool for posturographic assessment, and to determine the test-retest reliability of the Head Shake Sensory Interaction and Balance Test (HS-SIB), an adaptation of the modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction and Balance (mCTSIB) which adds two head shake conditions to challenge the vestibular contributions to postural control. Study Design. This was a correlational time series cohort study completed in a biomechanics laboratory. Methods: The sample consisted of nineteen healthy adults (10 females, 9 males). Sway Index, Equilibrium Score, and the area of the ellipse enclosing 95% of the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) center of gravity (COG) displacement (AREA95) are the 3 summary variables. Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) and Minimum Detectable Change (MDC) are also reported. Results: Test-retest reliability was generally poor with limited exceptions. Moderate to good reliability was observed for the more challenging stance conditions (ICC range 0.58-0.81), including those with head shake. Conclusions: Field-expedient systems, such as the Biodex BioSway™, may offer reliable posturographic testing where gold-standard methods are not available. Clinicians should be aware that less demanding test conditions have limited reliability; however, test-retest reliability of this assessment tool is improved with more challenged stance conditions and the inclusion of a head shake task.

Violence against children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected children's risk of violence in their homes, communities and online, and has compromised the ability of child protection systems to promptly detect and respond to cases of violence. However, the need to strengthen violence prevention and response services has received insufficient attention in national and global pandemic response and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we summarize the growing body of evidence on the links between the pandemic and violence against children. Drawing on the World Health Organization's INSPIRE framework to end violence against children, we illustrate how the pandemic is affecting prevention and response efforts. For each of the seven INSPIRE strategies we identify how responses to the pandemic have changed children's risk of violence. We offer ideas for how governments, policy-makers, and international and civil society organizations can address violence in the context of a protracted COVID-19 crisis. We conclude by highlighting how the current pandemic offers opportunities to improve existing child protection systems to address violence against children. We suggest enhanced multisectoral coordination across the health, education, law enforcement, housing, child and social protection sectors. Actions need to prioritize the primary prevention of violence and promote the central role of children and adolescents in decision-making and programme design processes. Finally, we stress the continued need for better data and evidence to inform violence prevention and response strategies that can be effective during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

La pandémie de maladie à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) a eu un impact sur le risque de violence à l'égard des enfants à domicile, au sein de leur communauté et en ligne. Elle a également empêché les systèmes de protection de l'enfance d'identifier rapidement les situations de ce type et d'y réagir dès que possible. Pourtant, la nécessité de renforcer les services de prévention et d'action en la matière n'a pas été suffisamment prise en compte dans les stratégies nationales et internationales d'intervention et d'atténuation des effets de la pandémie. Le présent document reprend l'accumulation de preuves confirmant les liens entre pandémie et violence à l'égard des enfants. En nous inspirant du cadre INSPIRE de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé visant à mettre fin à la violence à l'encontre des enfants, nous illustrons la façon dont la pandémie affecte les efforts de prévention et d'action. Pour chacune des sept stratégies INSPIRE, nous déterminons comment les mesures de lutte contre la pandémie ont influencé le risque de violence envers les enfants. Nous formulons des pistes pour que les gouvernements, les législateurs, les institutions internationales et les organisations de la société civile puissent remédier à cette violence dans un contexte de crise prolongée due à la COVID-19. En guise de conclusion, nous mettons en lumière les opportunités qu'offre la pandémie actuelle d'améliorer les systèmes existants de protection de l'enfance pour mieux combattre la violence envers les enfants. Nous suggérons d'accroître la collaboration entre les secteurs de la santé, de l'éducation, du maintien de l'ordre, du logement, des droits de l'enfant et de la protection sociale. Les actions entreprises doivent se focaliser sur la prévention primaire de la violence et promouvoir le rôle central des enfants et adolescents dans les processus de conception de programmes et de prise de décisions. Enfin, nous soulignons le besoin permanent de données et de preuves fiables pour orienter les stratégies de prévention et d'intervention face à la violence, afin de garantir leur efficacité pendant et après la pandémie de COVID-19.

La pandemia de la enfermedad por coronavirus (COVID-19) ha afectado al riesgo de violencia infantil que sufren los niños en sus hogares, comunidades y en línea, y ha puesto en peligro la capacidad de los sistemas de protección infantil para detectar y responder rápidamente a los casos de violencia. Sin embargo, la necesidad de reforzar los servicios de prevención y respuesta a la violencia no ha recibido suficiente atención en las estrategias nacionales y mundiales de respuesta y mitigación de la pandemia. En este documento, resumimos el creciente conjunto de pruebas sobre los vínculos entre la pandemia y la violencia infantil. Basándonos en el marco INSPIRE de la Organización Mundial de la Salud para poner fin a la violencia infantil, ilustramos cómo la pandemia está afectando a los esfuerzos de prevención y respuesta. Para cada una de las siete estrategias de INSPIRE, identificamos cómo las respuestas a la pandemia han cambiado el riesgo de violencia infantil. Ofrecemos ideas sobre cómo los gobiernos, los responsables políticos y las organizaciones internacionales y de la sociedad civil pueden abordar la violencia en el contexto de una crisis prolongada de COVID-19. Concluimos destacando cómo la pandemia actual ofrece oportunidades para mejorar los sistemas de protección infantil existentes para abordar este tipo de violencia. Sugerimos una mayor coordinación multisectorial en los sectores de la salud, la educación, la aplicación de la ley, la vivienda y la protección social infantil. Las acciones deben priorizar la prevención primaria de la violencia y promover el papel central de los niños y adolescentes en los procesos de toma de decisiones y en el diseño de programas. Por último, subrayamos la necesidad permanente de contar con mejores datos y pruebas para fundamentar las estrategias de prevención y respuesta a la violencia que puedan ser eficaces durante la pandemia de COVID-19 y seguir vigentes cuando ésta pase.

Microgreen nutrition, food safety, and shelf life: A review.

Microgreens have gained increasing popularity as food ingredients in recent years because of their high nutritional value and diverse sensorial characteristics. Microgreens are edible seedlings including vegetables and herbs, which have been used, primarily in the restaurant industry, to embellish cuisine since 1996. The rapidly growing microgreen industry faces many challenges. Microgreens share many characteristics with sprouts, and while they have not been associated with any foodborne illness outbreaks, they have recently been the subject of seven recalls. Thus, the potential to carry foodborne pathogens is there, and steps can and should be taken during production to reduce the likelihood of such incidents. One major limitation to the growth of the microgreen industry is the rapid quality deterioration that occurs soon after harvest, which keeps prices high and restricts commerce to local sales. Once harvested, microgreens easily dehydrate, wilt, decay and rapidly lose certain nutrients. Research has explored preharvest and postharvest interventions, such as calcium treatments, modified atmopsphere packaging, temperature control, and light, to maintain quality, augment nutritional value, and extend shelf life. However, more work is needed to optimize both production and storage conditions to improve the safety, quality, and shelf life of microgreens, thereby expanding potential markets.

Dynamic changes in the physicochemical properties of fresh-cut produce wash water as impacted by commodity type and processing conditions.

Organic materials in fresh-cut produce wash water deplete free chlorine that is required to prevent pathogen survival and cross-contamination. This research evaluated water quality parameters frequently used to describe organic load for their fitness to predict chlorine demand (CLD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), which are major needs identified by the industry-led produce food safety taskforce. Batches of romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, or carrot of different cut sizes and shapes were washed in 40 liters of water. Physicochemical properties of wash water including CLD, COD, total organic carbon (TOC), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, total sugar content, and pH, were monitored. Results indicate that pH is primarily commodity dependent, while organic load is additionally impacted by cutting and washing conditions. Significant linear increases in COD, TOC, CLD, TDS, and turbidity resulted from increasing product-to-water ratio, and decreasing cut size. Physicochemical parameters, excluding pH, showed significant positive correlation across different cut sizes within a commodity. High correlations were obtained between CLD and COD and between COD and TOC for pooled products. The convenient measurement of TDS, along with its strong correlation with COD and CLD, suggests the potential of TDS for predicting organic load and chlorine reactivity. Finally, the potential application and limitation of the proposed models in practical produce processing procedures are discussed extensively.

Association between bacterial survival and free chlorine concentration during commercial fresh-cut produce wash operation.

Determining the minimal effective free chlorine (FC) concentration for preventing pathogen survival and cross-contamination during produce washing is critical for developing science- and risk-based food safety practices. The correlation between dynamic FC concentrations and bacterial survival was investigated during commercial washing of chopped Romaine lettuce, shredded Iceberg lettuce, and diced cabbage as pathogen inoculation study during commercial operation is not feasible. Wash water was sampled every 30 min and assayed for organic loading, FC, and total aerobic mesophilic bacteria after chlorine neutralization. Water turbidity, chemical oxygen demand, and total dissolved solids increased significantly over time, with more rapid increases in diced cabbage water. Combined chlorine increased consistently while FC fluctuated in response to rates of chlorine dosing, product loading, and water replenishment. Total bacterial survival showed a strong correlation with real-time FC concentration. Under approximately 10 mg/L, increasing FC significantly reduced the frequency and population of surviving bacteria detected. Increasing FC further resulted in the reduction of the aerobic plate count to below the detection limit (50 CFU/100 mL), except for a few sporadic positive samples with low cell counts. This study confirms that maintaining at least 10 mg/L FC in wash water strongly reduced the likelihood of bacterial survival and thus potential cross contamination of washed produce.

Extending the shelf life of edible flowers with controlled release of 1-methylcyclopropene and modified atmosphere packaging.

Edible flowers have great sensory appeal, but their extremely short shelf life limits their commercial usage. Postharvest 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment is used to counter ethylene activity and delay senescence in fresh produce; however, its potential application in edible flowers has not been tested. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of 1-MCP treatment with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on the shelf life of edible flowers. Freshly harvested carnations and snapdragons were packaged in trays with or without 0.5 µL/L of 1-MCP, sealed with a gas permeable film, and stored at 5 °C. Package atmospheres, tissue electrolyte leakage, and flower quality were evaluated on days 0, 7, and 14. Treatment with 1-MCP resulted in significantly slower changes in package headspace O(2), CO(2), and C(2)H(4) partial pressures, maintained higher overall quality of both flower species and reduced electrolyte leakage and abscission in snapdragon. All samples prepared with MAP had significantly reduced dehydration and higher overall quality compared to flowers packaged commercially in plastic clamshell containers. Treatments with controlled release of 1-MCP and MAP significantly extended storage life of edible carnation and snapdragon flowers.

Assessment of Escherichia coli O157:H7 transference from soil to iceberg lettuce via a contaminated field coring harvesting knife.

The potential for lettuce field-coring harvesting knives to cross-contaminate lettuce heads with pathogens was evaluated. Rings and blades of the harvest knives artificially contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC), were used to core three successive heads of iceberg lettuce. The coring rings and blades were inoculated by dipping into soils containing EHEC at concentration ranges of 1-10(5) MPN/g soil. Factors that influenced EHEC transference from soil to iceberg lettuce via contaminated coring knife blade, included water content (WC) of clay and sandy soils, EHEC concentration, and degree of blade contact (stem, medium, and heavy) with edible tissue. High moisture content clay soil was positively associated with high pathogen transference. No EHEC were detected on any cut heads when clay soil contaminated with 10(5) MPN/g EHEC had WC of 20% or less, or when the knife blade was dipped into sandy soil contaminated with EHEC at the same level, regardless of percent WC. The extent to which the harvesting knife blade cut across edible lettuce tissues was also an important factor in the amount of pathogen transference that occurred. EHEC were detectable on first and second sequentially cut lettuce heads when medium-contact was made between knife blade and edible tissues and on all three sequentially cut lettuce heads using the heavy-contact cutting scenario, when the blade was contaminated with 10(4) cfu/g EHEC in clay soil (25% WC). However, when the blade, contaminated at the same soil EHEC level, was used to cut only the stem and had no contact with the edible portion of the lettuce head, no pathogen transference was detected. Under the current CIF harvesting practice, the cutting blade has a higher potential than the coring ring to be contaminated by the soil, but less opportunity to transfer pathogens to harvested lettuce. However, once contaminated, the coring ring has much higher potential than the blade to transfer pathogens to the harvested lettuce.

Determination of free chlorine concentrations needed to prevent Escherichia coli O157:H7 cross-contamination during fresh-cut produce wash.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of free chlorine concentrations in wash water on Escherichia coli O157:H7 reduction, survival, and transference during washing of fresh-cut lettuce. The effectiveness of rewashing for inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 on newly cross-contaminated produce previously washed with solutions containing an insufficient amount of chlorine also was assessed. Results indicate that solutions containing a minimum of 0.5 mg/liter free chlorine were effective for inactivating E. coli O157:H7 in suspension to below the detection level. However, the presence of 1 mg/liter free chlorine in the wash solution before washing was insufficient to prevent E. coli O157:H7 survival and transfer during washing because the introduction of cut lettuce to the wash system quickly depleted the free chlorine. Although no E. coli O157:H7 was detected in the wash solution containing 5 mg/liter free chlorine before washing a mix of inoculated and uninoculated lettuce, low numbers of E. coli O157:H7 cells were detected on uninoculated lettuce in four of the seven experimental trials. When the prewash free chlorine concentration was increased to 10 mg/liter or greater, no E. coli O157:H7 transfer was detected. Furthermore, although rewashing newly cross-contaminated lettuce in 50 mg/liter free chlorine for 30 s significantly reduced (P = 0.002) the E. coli O157:H7 populations, it failed to eliminate E. coli O157:H7 on lettuce. This finding suggests that rewashing is not an effective way to correct for process failure, and maintaining a sufficient free chlorine concentration in the wash solution is critical for preventing pathogen cross-contamination.