Efficacy of Ultraviolet Light Exposure Against Survival of Listeria monocytogenes on Conveyor Belts

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2010-06-02
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Morey, Amit
McKee, Shelly
Dickson, James
Singh, Manpreet
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Dickson, James
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Animal Science

The Department of Animal Science originally concerned itself with teaching the selection, breeding, feeding and care of livestock. Today it continues this study of the symbiotic relationship between animals and humans, with practical focuses on agribusiness, science, and animal management.

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The Department of Animal Husbandry was established in 1898. The name of the department was changed to the Department of Animal Science in 1962. The Department of Poultry Science was merged into the department in 1971.

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Listeria monocytogenes has been repeatedly isolated from foods and food-processing facilities including food contact surfaces such as conveyor belts (CB). CBs are often difficult to clean and require rigorous sanitation programs for decontamination. Ultraviolet (UV) light has exhibited microbicidal properties on food contact surfaces and this study was conducted to determine the efficacy of UV against L. monocytogenes on CB made of different materials. A four-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes (serotypes 3A, 4A, 4B, and 4C) was made to give a suspension of approximately 107 CFU/mL. CBs made from four different types of materials, (1) Ropanyl DM 8/2 A2 + 04 (belt 1), (2) Volta FRMW-3.0 (belt 2), (3) Volta FRMB-3.0 (belt 3), and (4) Ropanyl DM (belt 4), were inoculated with 1 mL of the four-strain cocktail (∼107 CFU/mL) of the bacterial suspension. CBs were treated with UV light (254 nm) for 1 and 3 sec at 5.53 and 5.95 mW/cm2. Three replications of the experiments were conducted. Two-way analysis of variance of survival populations of L. monocytogenes showed that bacterial counts were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) on all belt types irrespective of UV light intensities and times of exposure. L. monocytogenes populations were reduced (p < 0.05) to below detection limits on belts 1, 2, and 3 after exposure to 5.95 mW/cm2 UV light intensity for 3 sec. L. monocytogenes–inoculated CBs that were exposed to 5.53 mW/cm2showed higher (p < 0.05) survival populations of L. monocytogenes compared with 5.95 mW/cm2 on all the four CBs. Belt 4 showed survival populations of L. monocytogenes ranging from 1.42 to 1.73 log10 CFU/cm2 after UV light treatment for 1 and 3 sec. UV light can be effectively used to reduce L. monocytogenes contamination on CBs.

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This article is from Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 7 (2010): 737–740, doi:10.1089/fpd.2009.0464.

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Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2010
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