Feasible Approaches of Ultraviolet‐C Light to Improve Food Safety for Ready‐to‐Eat Salads

The ready-to-eat (RTE) salad market offers consumers convenience while supporting healthy dietary habits. However, minimal processing of RTE salads in production poses microbial safety risks, potentially leading to foodborne outbreaks. Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light shows great promise for enhancing microbial food safety; as a nonthermal technology, it can inactivate pathogenic bacteria while preserving the sensory attributes and nutritional value of fresh produce. This review discussed various approaches of UV-C illumination for disinfecting foodborne pathogens on RTE salads. It first examines direct UV-C light exposure of RTE salads, the most traditional approach. It then evaluates water-assisted UV-C (WUV-C) irradiation, a relatively new approach shown to significantly reduce microbial load. Furthermore, the review explores UV-C light-based hurdle technology, a promising strategy that combines sequential or simultaneous treatments to enhance disinfectant efficacy in practical applications. Finally, we summarize the current status of low-pressure mercury (LPM) lamps and discuss the future applications of UV-C light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) and krypton chloride (KrCl) excimer lamps for ensuring safety along production lines.