Cocktails of lawn-collected cells were used to determine the survival of Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes on the surface of raw peanut and pecan kernels. Kernels were inoculated with mixtures of four to five strains at 3 or 6 log CFU/g, dried at room temperature, and then stored at -24 ± 1, 4 ± 2, and 22 ± 1°C for 28 or 365 days. In most cases, rates of decline of the pathogens did not differ significantly between the two inoculum concentrations in the 28-day study. At 6 log CFU/g, populations of all pathogens were reduced by 0.5 to 1.6 log CFU/g during an initial 3-day drying period on both peanuts and pecans. The moisture content of peanuts and pecans remained stable at -24 ± 1 and 22 ± 1°C; at 4 ± 2°C, the moisture content increased from 3.8 to 5.6% on peanuts and from 2.6 to 3% on pecans over 365 days. Pathogen populations were stable on pecans stored under frozen and refrigerated conditions, except for L. monocytogenes, which declined at a rate of 0.03 log CFU/g/30 days at 4 ± 2°C. Salmonella populations were stable on peanuts stored at -24 ± 1 and 4 ± 2°C, but E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes declined at rates of 0.03 to 0.12 log CFU/g/30 days. At 22 ± 1°C, Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, and L. monocytogenes declined at a rate of 0.22, 0.37, and 0.59 log CFU/g/30 days, respectively, on peanuts, and at 0.15, 0.34, and 1.17 log CFU/g/30 days, respectively, on pecans. Salmonella counts were above the limit of detection (0.30 log CFU/g) throughout the study. In most cases during storage, counts obtained from pecans were higher than from peanuts.

Tomato good agricultural practices, mandatory guidelines in Florida, do not have specific regulations for glove use during tomato harvesting. The objective of the research reported here was to evaluate Salmonella transfer from contaminated gloves to tomatoes and vice versa upon single and subsequent touches. Experiments were performed using mature, green, round tomatoes with two types of gloves (reusable and single use) and two hygienic conditions of reusable glove (clean and dirty [fouled with tomato leaves]). The transfer scenarios used during experiments were glove to tomato, tomato to glove, and glove to up to 25 subsequently touched tomatoes. The inoculated surface (6 log CFU per surface), after drying for 24 h, touched the uninoculated surface for 5 s. Salmonella populations from gloves and tomatoes were enumerated on nonselective and selective agar supplemented with 80 μg/ml rifampin. Enrichments were performed when counts fell below the detection limit. The rates of Salmonella transfer to tomatoes during a single touch were similar for single-use and reusable gloves; transfer from tomatoes to gloves was higher to single-use gloves than to reusable gloves under wet (0 h) inoculation conditions. Dirty reusable gloves did not transfer more Salmonella than clean reusable gloves during single contact under any conditions. When a single glove was sequentially touched to multiple tomatoes, clean reusable gloves transferred higher levels of Salmonella to the first few tomatoes touched than did single-use gloves and dirty reusable gloves. As workers' gloves became dirty over time during harvest, the risk of Salmonella transfer to tomatoes did not increase.

In-shell pecan samples (500 g) were collected over four harvest seasons (2010 to 2014) from seven pecan shelling facilities located in five U.S. states. Four varieties of pecans were analyzed: Mexican Improved, Native Seedlings, Southern Improved, and Western Improved. Pecan samples (100 g) were sent to a third party laboratory for initial Salmonella screening. When a sample was positive for Salmonella, the pathogen level was determined by the most-probable-number (MPN) method (25, 2.5, and 0.25 g). Two sample preparation strategies were used for the MPN analysis, and both strategies were combined for the reported MPN values. Forty-four (0.95%) of 4,641 in-shell pecan samples were positive for Salmonella during initial screening; prevalence by year was 0.47 to 1.4%. Prevalence was not significantly different between varieties: Mexican Improved, 1.2%; Native/Seedling, 0.99%; Southern Improved, 0.97%; and Western Improved, 0.75%. Salmonella was not isolated from 31 of 44 samples upon retesting during MPN analysis (<0.47 MPN/100 g). When Salmonella was detected, the levels were 0.47 to 39 MPN/100 g, with a mean of 2.4 MPN/100 g. Thirty-one Salmonella serotypes were obtained from 42 Salmonella-positive pecan samples; Enteritidis was the most common (12% of samples) followed by Javiana (9%) and Braenderup (7%). All Salmonella Enteritidis isolates were phage type 8. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis (XbaI) revealed within-serotype diversity, indicating introduction of contamination from a variety of sources. Most (64%) of the isolates were resistant to streptomycin or tetracycline, and 13% were resistant to three or more antibiotics. Salmonella prevalence and level on in-shell pecans is comparable to that on other nuts.