title: Cleaning and decontamination efficacy of wiping cloths and silver dihydrogen citrate on food contact surfaces.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the efficacy of four wipe cloth types (cotton bar towel, nonwoven, microfibre and blended cellulose/cotton) with either quaternary ammonia cleaning solution or silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC) in cleaning food contact surfaces.
  
  
  METHODS
  Swab samples collected from untreated, cloth-treated and cloth disinfectant-treated surfaces were subjected to hygiene monitoring using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence and aerobic total plate counting (TPC) assays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adenosine triphosphate measurements taken after wiping the surfaces showed poor cleaning by nonwoven cloths (2·89 RLU 100 cm(-2) ) than the microfibre (2·30 RLU 100 cm(-2) ), cotton terry bar (2·26 RLU 100 cm(-2) ) and blended cellulose/cotton cloth types (2·20 RLU 100 cm(-2) ). The cellulose/cotton cloth showed highest log reduction in ATP-B RLU values (95%) and CFU values (98·03%) when used in combination with SDC disinfectant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cleaning effect of wiping cloths on food contact surfaces can be enhanced by dipping them in SDC disinfectant. ATP-B measurements can be used for real-time hygiene monitoring in public sector, and testing microbial contamination provides more reliable measure of cleanliness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Contaminated food contact surfaces need regular hygiene monitoring. This study could help to estimate and establish contamination thresholds for surfaces at public sector facilities and to base the effectiveness of cleaning methods.
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety and Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Masuku
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Babu
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: O K
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: O'Bryan
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Crandall
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ricke
mesh_terms: D002951:Citrates / Q000737:chemistry; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003666:Decontamination / Q000379:methods*; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000737:chemistry*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D019649:Food Industry; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006920:Hygiene; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D018030:Silver Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D013784:Textiles
chemical_list: D002951:Citrates; D004202:Disinfectants; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D018030:Silver Compounds