General Food Safety Information 

• American Pistachio Growers Association
• Administrative Committee for Pistachios
• Building a Better Understanding of Salmonella in Pistachios (Jim Prevor's Perishable Pundit, May 1, 2009, PDF 78 KB)
• California Pistachio Research Board
  • Good Agricultural Practices for Pistachio Growers 2009 (PDF 177 KB)
  • Good Agricultural Practices Self-Assessment Questionnaire 2013 (PDF 79 KB)
• FDA Guidance for Industry: Measures to Address the Risk for Contamination by Salmonella Species in Food Containing a Pistachio-Derived Product as an Ingredient 2011 (PDF 90 KB)  (As HTML Page)
• Guidelines for using Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as a surrogate microorganism in pistachio process validation (UC Davis & Michigan State University) (PDF 386 KB)
• United States Standards for Pistachio Nuts in the Shell 2004 (USDA ,PDF 115 KB)
  • USDA Pistachio Nuts in the Shell Handbook 2005 (USDA, PDF 1.4 KB)
  • United States Standards for Pistachio Nuts, Shelled 2004 (USDA, PDF 101 KB)

Publications in Support of a Pistachio Food Safety Plan

Survey of pistachios for the presence of Salmonella

Harris, L. J., V. Lieberman, R. P. Mashiana, E. Atwill, M. Yang, J. C. Chandler, B. Bisha, and T. Jones. 2016. Prevalence and amounts of Salmonella found on raw California inshell pistachios. J. Food Prot. 79:1304–1315. doi:10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-054 https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-054

Growth of Salmonella is possible in inhull pistachios during harvest

Moussavi, M., V. Lieberman, C. Theofel, J. Barouei, and L. J. Harris. 2019. Growth of Salmonella on inoculated inhull pistachios during postharvest handling. J. Food Prot. 82(2):217-225. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-18-351

Growth of Salmonella can occur in pistachios after hulling and before drying

Moussavi, M., V. Lieberman, C. Theofel, J. Barouei, and L. J. Harris. 2019. Growth of Salmonella and other foodborne pathogens on inoculated inshell pistachios during simulated delays between hulling and drying. J. Food Prot. 82(5):815-825. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-18-450

Studies that document survival of Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes on inshell pistachios during storage

Kimber, M. A., H. Kaur, L. Wang, M. D. Danyluk, and L. J. Harris. 2012. Survival of Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes on inoculated almonds and pistachios stored at -19, 4, and 24°C. J. Food Prot. 75:1394–1403. doi:10.4315/0362- 028X.JFP-12-023 https://jfoodprotection.org/doi/abs/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-12-023

Santillana Farakos, S. M., R. Pouillot, N. Anderson, R. Johnson, I. Son, and J. Van Doren. 2016. Modeling the survival kinetics of Salmonella in tree nuts for use in risk assessment. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 227:41–50. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2016.03.014

Risk assessments supporting a target minimum 4-log reduction of Salmonella in pistachios

Lambertini, E., J. Barouei, D. W. Schaffner, M. D. Danyluk, and L. J. Harris. 2017. Modeling the risk of salmonellosis from consumption of pistachios produced and consumed in the United States. Food Microbiol. 67:85–96. doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2017.06.003 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2017.06.003

Santillana Farakos, S. M., R. Pouillot, G. R. Davidson, R. Johnson, J. Spungen, I. Son, N. Anderson, and J. M. Van Doren. 2018. A quantitative risk assessment of human salmonellosis from consumption of pistachios in the United States. J. Food Prot. 81:1001– 1014. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-17-379

Impacts of thermal processing parameters on survival of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7  in pistachios

Casulli, K. E., F. J. Garces-Vega, K. D. Dolan, E. T. Ryser, L. J. Harris, and B. P. Marks. 2018. Impact of process temperature, humidity, and initial product moisture on thermal inactivation of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30 on pistachios during hot-air heating. J. Food Prot. 81:1351– 1356. 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-17-439

Moussavi, M., J. C. Frelka, I. M. Hildebrant, B. P. Marks, and L. J. Harris. 2020. Thermal resistance of foodborne pathogens and Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 on inoculated pistachios. J. Food Prot. 83(7):1125–1136. https://doi.org/10.4315/JFP-19-561

Guidelines for using Enterococcus faecium as a surrogate for thermal process validation in pistachios

Barouei, J., J. Frelka, L. J. Harris, B. Marks, R. Mashiana, and C. Theofel (contributing authors) 2018. Guidelines for using Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as a surrogate microorganism in pistachio process validation. Available at:  https://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk7366/files/inline-files/292321.pdf