Dr Karl R. Matthews is Professor of Food Microbiology and past Chair and Undergraduate Program Director of the Department of Food Science at Rutgers University, USA. He is a Fulbright Scholar and Fulbright Specialist promoting food safety. Professor Matthews is Associate Editor of Frontiers in Sustainable Food and Agriculture, sits on the board of several other journals, is co-author of a standard text on food microbiology (now in its fourth edition) and has edited a major reference on the microbiology of fresh produce.Dr Jinhe Bai's research program focuses on preserving the postharvest quality of fruits and vegetables. Specific areas of expertise include controlled-atmosphere storage, modified atmosphere packaging, and edible coating technologies, and discovery of how internal and environmental factors influence metabolism and further impact flavor and nutritional quality of horticultural crops.

• Part 1 Pathogenic risks1.Advances in understanding contamination of fresh produce by Salmonella: Shirley A. Micallef, University of Maryland, USA;2.Advances in understanding and presenting contamination of fresh produce by Listeria monocytogenes: Xinyi Zhou and Wei Zhang, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA;3.Advances in understanding contamination of fresh produce by pathogenic Escherichia coli: Karl R. Matthews, Rutgers University, USA;Part 2 Detection and risk assessment4.Developments in rapid detection/high throughput screening techniques for identifying pathogens in food: Kannappan Arunachalam and Chunlei Shi, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China;5.Advances in modelling pathogen behaviour in fresh produce: Panagiotis N. Skandamis, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece;6.Advances in quantitative microbiological risk assessment for pathogens in fresh produce: Donald W. Schaffner, Rutgers University, USA; Marina Girbal, University of Barcelona, Spain; Matt Igo, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, USA; and Kaitlyn Casulli, University of Georgia, USA;Part 3 Improving safety along the value chain7.Advances in understanding sources of pathogenic contamination of fresh produce: soil and soil amendments: Alexis Omar, University of Delaware, USA; Manan Sharma, USDA-ARS, USA; and Kalmia E. Kniel, University of Delaware, USA;8.The role of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in preventing pathogenic microbial contamination of fresh produce: Thomas P. Saunders and Elizabeth A. Bihn, Produce Safety Alliance – Cornell University, USA;9.Advances in sanitising techniques and their assessment for assuring the safety of fresh produce: Silvia Vanessa Camacho Martinez, Mahdiyeh Hasani, Lara Jane Warriner and Keith Warriner, University of Guelph, Canada;10.Developments in packaging techniques and their assessment for assuring the safety of fresh produce: Jinhe Bai, Gabriela Maria Olmedo and Xiuxiu Sun, USDA-ARS, USA;11.The role of good manufacturing practice and hazard analysis and critical control point systems in maintaining the safety of minimally processed fresh produce: Carol A. Wallace, Jan M. Soon and Shingai P. Nyarugwe, University of Central Lancashire, UK;12.Improving safe consumer handling of fresh produce: Jennifer Quinlan and Melissa Kavanaugh, Drexel University, USA;