Kitchen-Scale Treatments for Reduction of Listeria monocytogenes in Prepared Produce

Listeriosis, a foodborne illness caused by Listeria monocytogenes, has relatively low incidence, but a substantial mortality rate, particularly in immunocompromised populations. Because of the known risk of L. monocytogenes and other pathogens in produce, immunocompromised individuals are often plac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of food protection 2021-09, Vol.84 (9), p.1603-1609
Main Authors: Gomez, Carly B, Ryser, Elliot T, Marks, Bradley P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agitation
Antimicrobial agents
Apples
Blanching
Celery
Colony Count, Microbial
Consumers
Cucumbers
Differential media
Differential thermal analysis
Drinking water
Food contamination & poisoning
Food Handling
Food Microbiology
Food safety
Foodborne diseases
Fruits
Humans
Inoculum
Internalization
Kitchen utensils
Kitchens
Listeria
Listeria monocytogenes
Listeriosis
Malus
Neutropenia
Pathogens
Peeling
Populations
Sanitizers
Stainless steel
Vegetables
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Summary:Listeriosis, a foodborne illness caused by Listeria monocytogenes, has relatively low incidence, but a substantial mortality rate, particularly in immunocompromised populations. Because of the known risk of L. monocytogenes and other pathogens in produce, immunocompromised individuals are often placed on neutropenic diets that exclude fresh produce. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate several kitchen-scale treatments as potential interventions to reduce L. monocytogenes in prepared produce. Cucumbers, apples, and celery were dip inoculated with a three-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes and dried for 24 h. Inoculated products were subjected to the following treatments as applicable: commercial sanitizer soak (90 s, with agitation), tap water rinse (15 s), tap water soak (90 s, with agitation), surface blanching (25 s), tap water rinse (15 s) followed by peeling, and surface blanching (25 s) followed by peeling. In addition, inoculum uptake in celery and the impact of two types of peelers (mechanical crank and manual) were assessed. Treated samples were plated on differential media and incubated for 48 h at 37°C. L. monocytogenes populations were then enumerated and compared with the untreated control (in log CFUs per gram). All treatments lacked efficacy for celery, with reductions significantly less (P < 0.05) than in other products, likely because of inoculum internalization. The sanitizer soak, tap water rinse, and tap water soak did not differ in efficacy (P > 0.05), which was low for cucumbers (
ISSN:0362-028X
1944-9097
DOI:10.4315/JFP-21-019