Reducing Salmonella on apples with wash practices commonly used by consumers.
The efficacy levels of practices used by consumers to wash smooth-surface fruits and vegetables were compared. Golden Delicious apples were spot inoculated near the blossom end with 50 microl of a cocktail of six serotypes of Salmonella enterica (with a total inoculum level of approximately 10(9) CFU per apple). The inoculum was dried for 1.5 h, and apples were either treated immediately or held for 24 h prior to treatment. Treatments included wetting with approximately 5 ml of water, vinegar (5% acidity), or a 200-ppm chlorine solution, rubbing for 5 or 30 s, rinsing with 200 to 600 ml of 24 or 43 degrees C water, and drying with a sterile paper towel. Residual populations of Salmonella were determined by rubbing the treated apple for 30 s in 20 ml of Dey-Engley neutralizing broth and plating on tryptic soy agar and bismuth sulfite agar. Rubbing treatments carried out for 5 and 30 s both resulted in a significant reduction in Salmonella populations (1 log10 CFU per apple) relative to populations on samples held for 30 s. A 5-s rub followed by a 200-ml flowing-water rinse reduced populations by 3 log10 CFU per apple. No further decrease in population was obtained by rinsing with 400 or 600 ml of water. Increasing the rinse water temperature to 43 degrees C did not significantly improve microbial removal. Drying the apple with a sterile paper towel resulted in an additional decrease of approximately 0.4 log10 CFU per apple. A reduction of 3.2 log10 CFU was achieved with a combination of wetting with water, rubbing for 5 s, rinsing with 200 ml of water, and drying with a paper towel for apples inoculated just prior to or 24 h before treatment. Reductions obtained for apples treated with 5% vinegar and with a 200-ppm chlorine solution were significantly larger (2.1 to 3.2 log10 CFU per apple, respectively) than those achieved with water.
Parnell
Tracy L
TL
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616-8598, USA.
Harris
Linda J
LJ
D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D002713:Chlorine / Q000494:pharmacology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006920:Hygiene; D027845:Malus / Q000382:microbiology*; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water
D004202:Disinfectants; D014867:Water; D002713:Chlorine; D019342:Acetic Acid