18D-14

A. KILONZO-NTHENGE¹, F. C. Chen¹, and S. L. Godwin². (1) Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Research, Tenneessee State Univ., 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd, Nashville, TN 37209, (2) Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences, Tennessee State Univ.

Much effort has been focused on sanitation of fresh produce at a commercial level; however few options are available for consumers. Many consumers are concerned about fresh produce safety in the home, but limited information is available on how to eliminate bacterial contamination. Therefore, there is a need to assess ways in which consumers can use with minimum effort and time to control microbiological contamination on fresh produce. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of different washing methods which can be used in the home by consumers to remove microorganisms on the surface of fresh produce. Lettuce, broccoli, apples, and tomatoes were inoculated by dipping in Listeria innocua suspension containing approximately 8.0 log CFU/ml. Inoculated produce was then subjected to soaking (2 min) separately in tap water, commercial vegetable wash, lemon juice (13%), and vinegar (5%), and then followed by a 15 sec rinse in cold tap water. Rubbing and rinse, rinse only, brushing and rinse,wiping with wet and dry paper towel were involved in the treatments. Soaking and rinsing lettuce and broccoli either in water, lemon juice, vinegar or vegetable solution reduced Listeria innocua within the range 1.41 to 1.88 log CFU/g, and in apples and tomatoes within 2.00 to 2.89 log units. The vegetable wash solution significantly reduced (P < 0.05) bacterial population on tomatoes by 2.89 log units. Wiping apples with wet or dry paper towel resulted in low bacterial reductions of 0.96 and 0.64 log units, respectively. No statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) in Listeria innocua population reduction were found on tomatoes when wiped with wet or dry paper towel. Generally, cold tap water, vinegar, lemon, and vegetable wash solutions reduced Listeria innocua population within the same log units. Therefore, running cold tap water is adequate to reduce surface microbial contamination on fresh produce.

Session 18D, Food Microbiology: General
2:00 PM - 5:30 PM, Sunday PM Room Hall I-2

2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana