Effectiveness of water and sanitizer washing solutions for removing enteric viruses from blueberries. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Leblanc, Danielle; Gagné, Marie-Josée; Brassard, Julie
• Is Part Of: Food control. Volume 126(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: Enteric viruses -- Blueberries -- Washing -- Sanitizers -- Foodborne; Food -- Quality -- Periodicals; Food -- Analysis -- Periodicals; Food handling -- Periodicals; Food industry and trade -- Quality control -- Periodicals; Aliments -- Industrie et commerce -- Qualité -- Contrôle -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Qualité -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Analyse -- Périodiques; Hygiène alimentaire -- Périodiques; Food -- Analysis; Food handling; Food -- Quality; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 664.07
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2021.108043
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0956-7135

Abstract

Abstract: The presence of enteric viruses on fresh berries poses a health risk to consumers. After berries are picked, a washing step can reduce microbial counts on fruit surfaces to increase their safety. This study compared the effectiveness of tap water, commercial solutions of fruit and vegetable sanitizer composed of peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide (PAA) and neutral electrolyzed oxidizing water (NEW) for washing fresh blueberries that had been inoculated with either murine norovirus (MNV-1), bacteriophage MS2, bovine rotavirus (boRV) or hepatitis A virus (HAV). Initially, inactivation levels were measured after blueberries were washed for 1, 3, 5, 10 and 20 min. Subsequently, the effect of combining up to three sequential 1-min washes was evaluated. Washes with water lasting up to 20 min reduced MNV-1, MS2 and HAV populations by 1–2 log10 (PFU) and boRV by less than 4 log10 . Increasing washing time did not have a significant effect, except where NEW washes were increased by up to 3 min for MS2 and by 10 min for boRV, with viral titers decreasing by > 4 log10 and >5 log10, respectively. Viral counts were further reduced through additional washes as follows: reduction of MS2 with water, of MNV-1 with NEW and HAV with PAA. PAA achieved significant and rapid inactivation of boRV (>6 log10 PFU after 1 min), MNV-1 (>4 log10 after 10 min) and MS2 (>3 log10 after 3 min). HAV was moderately affected (<3 log10 after 20 min or 3 log10 after 3 washes). NEW was effective at inactivating MNV-1 (>4 log10 after 1 min), MS2 (>4 log10 after 3 min) and HAV (>4 log10 after 1 min). For boRV, washing time needed to be increased to 10 min or three sequential washes were needed to reach >5 log10 reduction. These results highlight the efficiency of PAA at reducing infectivity of MNV-1, MS2 bacteriophage and boRV, and NEW to inactivate the four viruses. Highlights: Water washes were the least effective at reducing viral infectivity of MNV-1, MS2, boRV and HAV. Highest reduction of boRV infectivity was obtained using a solution of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide (PAA). Highest reduction of HAV infectivity was obtained using neutral electrolyzed water (NEW). NEW and PAA reduced MNV-1 and MS2 infectivity efficiently. NEW was efficient in reducing infectivity of MNV-1, MS2, HAV and boRV.