Recent Outbreaks of Human Pathogens on Plants (HPOPs) on Fresh Produce – Lessons Learned from the Practice

Number of people being infected or intoxicated due to foodborne illness outbreaks reaches to millions annually. These outbreaks are also responsible from thousands of deaths and billions of dollars’ worth of damage every year. However it is considered as an essential portion for a healthy diet, the fresh produce, which is contaminated with Human Pathogens on Plants (HPOPs), is one of the major food items causing this damage. E.coli O104:H4 outbreak, occurred in Germany in 2011, has attracted a great attention on foodborne outbreaks caused by contaminated fresh produce, and especially the vulnerabilities and gaps in the foodborne illness surveillance systems. In the frame of this chapter, we focused on the most common foodborne pathogens on fresh produce, epdimiological and traceback investigations of the outbreaks caused by these pathogens in the last 5 years (November 2010–December 2015) in all around the World.