Critical points affecting the microbiological safety of bell peppers washed with peroxyacetic acid in a commercial packinghouse.
Food Microbiol
; 88: 103409, 2020 Jun.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31997764
The washing stage from a bell pepper commercial packinghouse was assessed to study some of the critical control points related to bacterial cross-contamination. The washing line comprised two overhead spray bars applications: a pre-wash step without peroxyacetic acid (PAA), and a wash step with PAA. The physicochemical characteristics of the wash water and the bacterial quality and safety of the wash water and bell peppers (including aerobic mesophilic bacteria (AMB), Salmonella spp., and Shiga-toxigenic E. coli (STEC)) were studied. Additionally, the performance of commercial test methods (reflectometry, amperometric probe, chronoamperometric sensor) for measuring the residual concentration of PAA was examined. The bacterial load of the pre-wash water (8.7 ± 1.3 log cfu/100 mL AMB) was very high and thus peppers after the pre-wash showed a significantly higher bacterial load (4.9 ± 0.9 log cfu/g AMB) than the unwashed (3.8 ± 0.7 log cfu/g AMB) or the washed peppers (3.3 ± 0.8 log cfu/g AMB) (p < 0.05). However, no pathogenic bacteria were detected in bell pepper samples (n = 40), and only one water sample was confirmed positive for STEC (n = 64, 1.6% prevalence). The chronoamperometric sensor (PAASense) and the online amperometric probe showed similar results, while the reflectometry (Quantofix) significantly sub estimated (p < 0.05) PAA concentration. The results obtained highlight the need for interventions to improve hygiene in the washing line to ensure the microbiological quality and safety of bell peppers. The maintenance of optimal PAA concentrations in all the washing steps is critical for reducing the chance of water-mediated cross-contamination.
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Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Ácido Peracético
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Bacterias
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Capsicum
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Contaminación de Alimentos
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Desinfectantes
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Microbiología de Alimentos
Tipo de estudio:
Risk_factors_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Food Microbiol
Asunto de la revista:
CIENCIAS DA NUTRICAO
/
MICROBIOLOGIA
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article