Many raw vegetables, such as tomato, chili, onion, lettuce, arugula, spinach, and cilantro, are incorporated into fresh dishes including ready-to-eat salads and sauces. The consumption of these foods confers a high nutritional value to the human diet. However, the number of foodborne outbreaks associated with fresh produce has been increasing, with Escherichia coli being the most common pathogen associated with them. In humans, pathogenic E. coli strains cause diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome, and other indications. Vegetables can be contaminated with E. coli at any point from pre- to postharvest. This bacterium is able to survive in many environmental conditions due to a variety of mechanisms, such as adhesion to surfaces and internalization in fresh products, thereby limiting the usefulness of conventional processing and chemical sanitizing methods used by the food industry. The aim of this review is to provide a general description of the behavior and importance of pathogenic E. coli in ready-to-eat vegetable dishes. This information can contribute to the development of effective control measures for enhancing food safety.

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The effect of different solvents and extraction methods on total anthoc yanins, phenolic compounds, and antioxidant capacity from x´kijit (renealmia alpinia Rottb. Maas) peels was evaluated. In order to evaluate the effect of solvents on the bioactive compounds extraction efficienc y and antioxidant capacity, a special cubic mixture design model was implemented with ethanol, methanol, and acetone as solvents and conventional (agitation – 1 and 6 h; Soxhlet – 2 and 4 h), novel (power ultrasound – 2.5 and 5 min) methods, and combination of extraction methods. Acceptable correla - tions between predicted and experimental data were obtained for total anthoc yanins ( r2  = 0.95), phenolic compounds (r2 = 0.78), and antioxidant capacity (r2 = 0.97), with methanol exhibiting the highest extraction yield of bioactive compounds and resultant antioxidant capacity. Although the extraction of total anthocyanins (82.2–85.8 mg cyanidine/ kg) and phenolic compounds (183.6–207.0 mg GAE/kg) was best carried out through Soxhlet, the ultrasonic treat- ment showed similar antioxidant capacity values (27.4–34.3 mg Trolox/kg) to those of 2-h Soxhlet. Moreover, a 5-min ultrasound pretreatment significantly increased (p < 0.05) phenolic compounds by 11, 21 and 12% when combined with agitation 1, 6, and 2-h Soxhlet treatments, respectively ; while the antioxidant capacity increased by 26, 48, and 22% for the same treatments. Ultrasound might be used as a valuable, green alternative procedure for improving the solvent extraction of bioactive compounds.