Comparative Study to Determine the Efficacy of Different Sanitizers to inactivate Human Pathogens on Shredded Lettuce and within Spent Wash Water

Bagged salads have been linked to foodborne illness outbreaks implicating Salmonella, E coli and Listeria. It was commonly believed that the post-harvest washing applied prior to bagging would remove field-acquired contamination. However, through various lines of research has illustrated that washing can result in cross-contamination of produce rather than decontamination. The majority of research performed to date has focused on the level of pathogen removal by different sanitizers. Yet, the ability to inactivate pathogens in wash water loaded with soils deposited by fresh produce would be more significant. To this end the project will evaluate a prototype sanitizer that in principal can be used in the presence of high organic loading, unlike commonly used bleach. The performance of Food Freshly will be compared to other commonly used sanitizers used in produce processing to get a relative measure of efficacy. The research will enhance the microbiological safety of fresh produce.

Faculty Supervisor:

Keith Warriner

Student:

Partner:

Pride Pak Ltd

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Guelph

Program: