Efficacy of adding detergents to sanitizer solutions for inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on Romaine lettuce.

Numerous Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreaks have been linked to consumption of fresh lettuce. The development of effective and easily implemented wash treatment could reduce such incidents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the addition of food-grade detergents to sanitizer solutions for inactivation of E.

Use of chemical sanitizers to reduce microbial populations and maintain quality of whole and fresh-cut cantaloupe.

Whole cantaloupes either not inoculated or inoculated with Salmonella Poona were submerged in water, 180 ppm of chlorine, acidified calcium sulfate (ACS: 1.2% Safe(2)O-ACS50), 1,000 ppm of acidified sodium chlorite (ASC), 80 ppm of peroxyacetic acid (PAA), and a combination of ACS and PAA for 10 min. Although only ASC and the combination of ACS and PAA significantly reduced the aerobic plate count of samples taken from the surface of whole cantaloupe (compared with samples taken from cantaloupe submerged in water only), all treatments reduced yeast and mold counts on the whole cantaloupe.

Efficacy of chlorine, acidic electrolyzed water and aqueous chlorine dioxide solutions to decontaminate Escherichia coli O157:H7 from lettuce leaves.

This study compared the efficacy of chlorine (20-200 ppm), acidic electrolyzed water (50 ppm chlorine, pH 2.6), acidified sodium chlorite (20-200 ppm chlorite ion concentration, Sanova), and aqueous chlorine dioxide (20-200 ppm chlorite ion concentration, TriNova) washes in reducing populations of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on artificially inoculated lettuce. Fresh-cut leaves of Romaine or Iceberg lettuce were inoculated by immersion in water containing E.

Impact of bacterial stress and biofilm-forming ability on transfer of surface-dried Listeria monocytogenes during slicing of delicatessen meats.

Listeria monocytogenes contamination of delicatessen slicer blades can lead to cross-contamination of luncheon meats. A cocktail of 3 strong or 3 weak biofilm-forming strains of L. monocytogenes suspended in turkey slurry was used to inoculate stainless steel delicatessen slicer blades at a level of 6 log CFU/blade.

Transfer of surface-dried Listeria monocytogenes from stainless steel knife blades to roast turkey breast.

Listeria contamination of food contact surfaces can lead to cross-contamination of ready-to-eat foods in delicatessens. Recognizing that variations in Listeria biofilm-forming ability exist, the goal of this study was to determine whether these differences in biofilm formation would affect the Listeria transfer rate during slicing of delicatessen turkey meat. In this study, six previously identified strong and weak biofilm-forming strains of Listeria monocytogenes were grown at 22 degrees C for 48 h on Trypticase soy agar containing 0.