Listeria is a true environmental bacterium, not requiring an animal host, and occurs naturally in water, soil and leaf litter, so eliminating it from the growing environment is not realistic. Other pathogens, such as E. coli and Salmonella, may survive in these same environments, too, but they don’t typically grow or persist for extended periods in the absence of reintroduction. Shawn Stevens However, with all of these microorganisms, growers can take steps to limit the potential for contamination and to protect their orchards and vineyards from lawsuits or legal action if new investigative techniques, such as whole genome sequencing, implicate […]