Inactivation of Foodborne Pathogens on Frankfurters Using Ultraviolet Light and Gras Antimicrobials

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes is an occasional contaminant of ready‐to‐eat meats such as frankfurters and sausages and is responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls of the subsequently adulterated food products. Salmonella and Staphylococus aureus are prevalent among pathogens which cause foodborne illness. Ultraviolet light (UV‐C) (254 nm) is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐approved intervention technology that can inactivate foodborne pathogens on frankfurter and precooked sausage surfaces. Potassium lactate, sodium diacetate and lauric arginate ester are U.S. FDA‐approved antimicrobials that can inactivate and inhibit the growth of foodborne pathogens during refrigerated storage. UV‐C light, when used in combination with the three antimicrobials, inactivated 2.32–2.80 log of the pathogens, which was more effective than either process used individually as determined by analysis of variance (n = 6, P < 0.05). During 12 weeks of refrigerated storage (10C), the use of UV‐C in combination with the 3 antimicrobials was found to be very effective, with 3.6–4.1 log of the three pathogens being inactivated by the end of the storage period. UV‐C and antimicrobials had no impact on frankfurter color or texture. The combinatorial use of UV‐C and antimicrobials was found to be an effective hurdle against pathogen survival and proliferation. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Ultraviolet light (254 nm) is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration‐approved technology that can be used in combination with generally recognized as safe (GRAS) antimicrobials to decontaminate the surfaces of precooked sausages such as frankfurters and bratwurst. This work indicates that ultraviolet light (UV‐C), when used in combination with the commercially used antimicrobial compounds potassium lactate, sodium diacetate and lauric arginate ester, effectively inactivates and controls the growth of human pathogens better than UV‐C or GRAS antimicrobials when used individually. The process described in this study can realistically be adopted by both small and large meat processors to provide safer precooked sausages for consumers.

Cooked poultry meat and products as a potential source of some food poisoning bacteria

“…RTE meats are especially a concern since these may be consumed without further cooking and are known to be good growth substrates for pathogenic microorganisms such as L. monocytogenes (Zhu, et al 2005). Moreover, L. monocytogenes is an occasional post process contaminant of RTE meats such as frankfurters and is responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls of the subsequently adulterated food products (Sommers et al, 2010). Thus, RTE meats contamination by L. monocytogenes presents a greater public health threat because these prepared foods can be contaminated during post-cook handling (Prencipe et al, 2012).…”

Technologies and Mechanisms for Safety Control of Ready-to-eat Muscle Foods: An Updated Review

“…The UV treatment up to 4 J/cm 2 had no effect on frankfurter quality (color or texture). The same UV treatment was also effective against other pathogens on RTE frankfurters (Sommers et al, 2010). The combination of UV (0.5 J/cm 2 , 100 s) and antimicrobial treatments (0.07% sodium diacetate, 1.13% potassium lactate) produced 1.64, 1.54 and 1.53-log destruction of L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, and Salmonella spp., respectively, on the surfaces of frankfurters.…”

Application of emerging technologies to control Salmonella in foods: A review

“…This minimizes the negative impact of single technologies, when used alone, especially on product quality (Raso & Barbosa-Canovas, 2003;Ross et al, 2003). UV light in combination with antimicrobials (Sommers, Scullen, & Sites, 2010;Uesagi & Moraru, 2009), flash pasteurization (Sommers, Geveke, & Fan, 2008), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) (Hadjok, Mittal, & Warriner, 2008), pulsed electric field (Gachovska, Kumar, Thippareddi, Subbiah, & Williams, 2008), and UV in pulses (Krishnamurthy, Demirci, & Irudayaraj, 2007) were a few of the recent literature that can be found on this topic. UV-C (0.5 J cm − 2 /~138 μW s cm − 2 ) light when applied in combination with three FDA-approved antimicrobials (potassium lactate, sodium diacetate and lauric arginate ester) reduced 3.6-4.1 logs of Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and L. monocytogenes from the surface of frankfurters (12 weeks storage at 10°C).…”

“…Custom-made UV-C irradiator with UV-C bulbs made from UV reflective electroplated sheet was used in this study. The combined effect was reported to be more effective than their individual effects (Sommers, Scullen, & Sites, 2010;Sommers, Sites, & Musgrove, 2010). Hadjok et al (2008) combined UV light (source: Heraeus 12 W lowpressure lamp; 254 nm) with H 2 O 2 to inactivate Salmonella and a number of other pathogens steep inoculated on lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, onion and tomato.…”