Efficacy of gaseous chlorine dioxide for decontamination of Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes on almonds and peppercorns
2022
Chai, Hui-Erh | Hwang, Cheng-An | Huang, Lihan | Wu, Vivian C.H. | Sheen, Lee-Yan
Almonds and peppercorns have been implicated in outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) for pilot-scale decontamination of Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), and Listeria monocytogenes on almonds and black peppercorns. Pathogens-inoculated almonds and peppercorns were exposed to ClO₂ gas generated by mixing of sodium chlorite (NaClO₂) and ferric chloride (FeCl₃) in dry form or by dosing hydrogen chloride (HCl) into NaClO₂. The concentrations of ClO₂ (ppm) during the treatment duration (h) were recorded to obtain the cumulative ClO₂ exposure (ppm-h), and the reductions in the pathogen populations resulting from exposure to the cumulative exposures were determined. For almonds, increasing the exposures from 983 to 10,408 ppm-h increased the reductions of Salmonella, STEC, and L. monocytogenes from 1.1 to 4.1, 1.6 to 4.1, and 1.4 to 4.1 log CFU/g, respectively. For peppercorns, increasing the exposures from 983 to 8039 ppm-h increased the reductions of Salmonella, STEC, and L. monocytogenes from 3.0 to 6.0, 3.7 to 7.2, and 3.2 to 7.3 log CFU/g, respectively. A 4.0-log reduction of the pathogens was achieved by using 10,408 ppm-h for almonds and 3112 ppm-h for peppercorns. Treatment parameters obtained from this study could be used in pilot-scale or larger decontamination applications for almonds and peppercorns.
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