title: Effect of Nonthermal, Conventional, and Combined Disinfection Technologies on the Stability of Human Adenoviruses as Fecal Contaminants on Surfaces of Fresh Ready-to-Eat Products.
abstract: Over one-half of foodborne diseases are believed to be of viral origin. The ability of viruses to persist in the environment and fresh produce, as well as their low infectious dose, allows even a small amount of contamination to cause serious foodborne problems. Moreover, the consumer's demands for fresh, convenient, and safe foods have prompted research into alternative food disinfection technologies. Our study focuses on viral inactivation by both conventional and alternative nonthermal disinfection technologies on different fresh ready-to-eat food products. The use of chlorine, as well as that of nonthermal technologies such as UV light and ultrasound (US), was tested for different treatment times. UV nonthermal technology was found to be more effective for the disinfection of human adenoviruses (hAdVs) compared with US, achieving a log reduction of 2.13, 1.25, and 0.92 for lettuce, strawberries, and cherry tomatoes, respectively, when UV treatment was implemented for 30 min. US treatment for the same period achieved a log reduction of 0.85, 0.53, and 0.36, respectively. The sequential use of US and UV was found to be more effective compared with when the treatments were used separately, for the same treatment time, thus indicating a synergistic effect. In addition, human adenoviruses were inactivated sooner, when chlorine treatment was used. Therefore, the effect of each disinfection method was dependent upon the treatment time and the type of food.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Microbiology Unit, Department of Public Health, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras 26504, Greece.
authors.forename: Angeliki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Birmpa
authors.affiliation: Environmental Microbiology Unit, Department of Public Health, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras 26504, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bellou
authors.affiliation: Environmental Microbiology Unit, Department of Public Health, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras 26504, Greece.
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kokkinos
authors.affiliation: Environmental Microbiology Unit, Department of Public Health, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras 26504, Greece. avanta@upatras.gr.
authors.forename: Apostolos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vantarakis
mesh_terms: D000260:Adenoviruses, Human / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002713:Chlorine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005511:Food Handling; D005516:Food Microbiology; D031985:Fragaria / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D018545:Lactuca / Q000821:virology; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D038301:Virus Inactivation
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D002713:Chlorine