title: Cleaning and sanitation of Salmonella-contaminated peanut butter processing equipment.
abstract: Microbial contamination of peanut butter by Salmonella poses a significant health risk as Salmonella may remain viable throughout the product shelf life. Effective cleaning and sanitation of processing lines are essential for preventing cross-contamination. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a cleaning and sanitation procedure involving hot oil and 60% isopropanol, ± quaternary ammonium compounds, to decontaminate pilot-scale processing equipment harboring Salmonella. Peanut butter inoculated with a cocktail of four Salmonella serovars (∼ 7 log CFU/g) was used to contaminate the equipment (∼ 75 L). The system was then emptied of peanut butter and treated with hot oil (90 °C) for 2 h followed by sanitizer for 1 h. Microbial analysis of food-contact surfaces (7 locations), peanut butter, and oil were conducted. Oil contained ∼ 3.2 log CFU/mL on both trypticase soy agar with yeast extract (TSAYE) and xylose lysine deoxycholate (XLD), indicating hot oil alone was not sufficient to inactivate Salmonella. Environmental sampling found 0.25-1.12 log CFU/cm(2) remaining on processing equipment. After the isopropanol sanitation (± quaternary ammonium compounds), no Salmonella was detected in environmental samples on XLD (<0.16 log CFU/cm(2)). These data suggest that a two-step hot oil clean and isopropanol sanitization treatment may eliminate pathogenic Salmonella from contaminated equipment.
authors.affiliation: Office of the Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 6502 S. Archer Road, Bedford Park, IL 60501-1957, USA. Electronic address: egrasso@iit.edu.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.affiliation: Institute for Food Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology, 6502 S. Archer Road, Bedford Park, IL 60501-1957, USA. Electronic address: sgrove@iit.edu.
authors.forename: Stephen F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Grove
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 6502 S. Archer Road, Bedford Park, IL 60501-1957, USA. Electronic address: lhalik@iit.edu.
authors.forename: Lindsay A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Halik
authors.affiliation: Department of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, 129 Schaub Hall, Raleigh, NC 27695-7624, USA. Electronic address: fmarritt@ncsu.edu.
authors.forename: Fletcher
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arritt
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 6502 S. Archer Road, Bedford Park, IL 60501-1957, USA. Electronic address: Susanne.Keller@fda.hhs.gov.
authors.forename: Susanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Keller
mesh_terms: D010367:Arachis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005511:Food Handling / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D012475:Salmonella / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012499:Sanitation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Peanut butter; Salmonella; Sanitation