Food Protection Trends - July/August 2021 - 409

Daniel A. Unruh,1a
Eleni D. Pliakoni2
1
Katelynn J. Stull,1b
and Sara E. Gragg1*
PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE
Food Protection Trends, Vol. 41, No. 4, p. 409-415
Copyright©
Dept. of Animal Sciences and Industry, Food Science
Institute, Kansas State University, 1530 Mid-Campus
Drive North, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
2
Dept. of Horticulture and Natural Resources, Kansas
State University, 22201 W. Innovation Drive, Olathe, KS
66061, USA
2021, International Association for Food Protection
2900 100th Street, Suite 309, Des Moines, IA 50322-3855, USA
A Bisulfate of Soda and Peroxyacetic Acid Solution
Reduces Salmonella on Fresh-Cut Spinach
ABSTRACT
Fresh produce is commonly implicated in foodborne
illness outbreaks, including outbreaks of Salmonella
infection. Chlorine is commonly added to produce wash
water to control pathogen cross-contamination in water
and is moderately efficacious because of limitations
associated with organic matter and pH requirements.
This study was conducted to evaluate a bisulfate of
soda-peroxyacetic acid (SP) wash for fresh-cut spinach
inoculated with Salmonella at > 6 log CFU/g. An unwashed
control was compared with produce washed with gentle
agitation in SP (80 ppm of peroxyacetic acid plus 0.5%
[w/v] bisulfate of soda), chlorine (150 ppm, pH 7.0),
or tap water. Spinach was stored in microperforated
retail display bags at 7°C, and Salmonella levels were
enumerated on days 0, 1, 3, 5, and 10 on xylose lysine
tergitol-4 agar plus a tryptic soy agar overlay. SP was
the most effective wash, reducing Salmonella by 1.8 log
CFU/g (P < 0.05) in comparison with the control. Washing
with SP significantly reduced Salmonella populations on
fresh-cut spinach and may serve as an effective alternative
to chlorine washes.
INTRODUCTION
The implication of contaminated produce in foodborne
illness outbreaks has been a major shift in foodborne illness
source attribution (4). Foodborne illness caused by leafy
greens is a major public health concern, with 16 outbreaks
of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica infection in the United
States traced to salad or leafy greens between 2004 and 2012
(5). In an epidemiological study conducted by the Centers
for Disease Control and Protection, Herman et al. (17)
reported that contaminated leafy greens were implicated in
606 foodborne illness outbreaks between 1973 and 2012.
The use of produce washes as an intervention to control
microbial contamination on produce has been extensively
*Author for correspondence: Phone: +1 785.532.1306; Fax: +1 785.53.5861; Email: saragragg@k-state.edu
a
Present Address: Corbion, Inc., Lenexa, Kansas
b
Present Address: Citrus Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences,
University of Florida, Lake Alfred, Florida
July/August Food Protection Trends 409

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