Quantitative Transfer and Sanitizer Inactivation of Salmonella during Simulated Commercial Dicing and Conveying of Tomatoes

Publication date: Available online 12 July 2019Source: Food ControlAuthor(s): Haiqiang Wang, Elliot T. RyserAbstractDiced tomatoes have been linked to outbreaks of salmonellosis in the United States. Compared to slicing, commercial production of diced tomatoes is more complex and includes mechanical dicing as well as washing, dewatering, conveying, and packing. Consequently, this study aimed to 1) quantify Salmonella transfer during pilot-scale dicing of tomatoes, 2) assess the efficacy of three sanitizer treatments against Salmonella during flume tank washing, and 3) assess the efficacy of four sanitizers against Salmonella during conveyance of diced tomatoes. One 0.9 kg batch of Salmonella Typhimurium LT2-inoculated Roma tomatoes (∼5 log CFU/g) was mechanically diced, followed by ten batches of uninoculated tomatoes. All uninoculated tomatoes yielded Salmonella with populations decreasing from 3.3 to 1.1 log CFU/g during dicing. Flume tank washing in sanitizer-free water or water containing 80 ppm of peroxyacetic acid, mixed peracid, or total chlorine decreased Salmonella populations in diced tomatoes 1.3 ± 0.2, 2.3 ± 0.4, 2.35 ± 0.4, and 2.4 ± 0.1 log CFU/g, respectively. After processing, Salmonella populations in flume water containing a sanitizer were always below the limit of detection (-1.0 log CFU/ml) and were significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) than for the sanitizer-free control (1.5 ± 0.3 log CFU/ml). When the same three sanitizer treatments as well as electro...

Source: Food Control - July 13, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research