Produce farmers are being encouraged to wait 24 hours after a rain or irrigating their fields to harvest their crops.
New research suggests the chances of finding the pathogens that cause Listeria on produce after a rain or irrigation were 25 times greater than levels found 24 hours after rain or irrigation.
Cornell University researchers were among those involved in this project.
They say rain or irrigation creates soil conditions that are more hospitable to the pathogen that causes the human illness Listeria.
That research was recently published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
