49I-5 |
|
L. S. JACKSON1, J. E. Schlesser1, T. Beacham-Bowden2, T.-J. Fu1, S. M. Gendel1, and M. Moorman3. (1) National Center for Food Safety & Technology, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, IIT Moffett Campus, 6502 S. Archer Rd., Summit-Argo, IL 60501, (2) National Center for Food Safety & Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology, IIT Moffett Campus, 6502 S. Archer Rd., Summit-Argo, IL 60501, (3) W.K. Kellogg Institute, Kellogg Co., 2 Hamblin Ave. E., Battle Creek, MI 49017 Undeclared allergens can be inadvertently introduced into food due to cross-contamination during manufacture. Inadequate cleaning of shared processing equipment is believed to be a major cause of cross-contamination. Little information exists on the adequacy of cleaning regimens for the removal of allergenic protein(s) from food-contact surfaces and the extent of allergen carry-over due to use of shared processing equipment. The objectives of this work were to 1) determine the efficacy of cleaning protocols for removing peanut allergens from food-contact surfaces and 2) measure allergen cross-contamination caused by the use of the same food-contact surface. For washing experiments, plates of different food-contact materials (stainless steel, teflon, polyethylene, urethane, polycarbonate) were contaminated with a known amount of peanut butter, and then washed [water, chlorinated alkali detergent (CAD), acid detergent (AD), each at room temperature and 62.8°C] for 30 min. After cleaning, the plates were swabbed and peanut residues measured with an ELISA peanut assay. For cross-contamination experiments, peanut butter cookie dough was applied to the surface of the plates. The dough was removed and replaced with an equal amount of sugar cookie dough. Peanut transferred to the sugar cookie dough was measured by ELISA. The cleaning protocols differed in their ability to remove peanut butter from the food-contact surfaces. Room temperature water was not effective at removing peanut butter from any of the materials while hot (62.8ºC) water was not effective for cleaning urethane and teflon plates. Hot CAD and AD solutions were successful at cleaning all five materials. Room temperature CAD was not effective in removing peanut butter from some of the plates. Cross-contamination experiments showed high levels of transfer of peanut from some food-contact surfaces to sugar cookie dough. The results demonstrate that detergents need to be used as directed by the manufacturer to be effective at cleaning equipment surfaces. Food processors need to evaluate the efficacy of cleaning protocols for each food-contact surface, piece of equipment and processing line.
Session 49I, Toxicology & Safety Evaluation: General
|