Effect of Alternative Household Sanitizing Formulations Including: Tea Tree Oil, Borax, and Vinegar, to Inactivate Foodborne Pathogens on Food Contact Surfaces

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorZekert, Ashley Elizabethen
dc.contributor.committeechairWilliams, Robert C.en
dc.contributor.committeememberSumner, Susan S.en
dc.contributor.committeememberBoyer, Renee R.en
dc.contributor.committeememberEifert, Joseph D.en
dc.contributor.departmentFood Science and Technologyen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:48:11Zen
dc.date.adate2009-12-28en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:48:11Zen
dc.date.issued2009-11-09en
dc.date.rdate2012-04-06en
dc.date.sdate2009-11-20en
dc.description.abstractCurrent trends indicate that American consumers are increasingly selecting products that they believe to be environmentally friendly or "natural." In the kitchen, this trend has been expressed through greater desire for using alternative or "green" sanitizers instead of bleach or other common chemical sanitizers. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of one suggested alternative, tea tree oil, as a food contact surface sanitizer. Three foodborne bacterial pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes N3-031 serotype 1/2a, Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain E009, and Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 14028) were applied separately onto three different food contact surfaces (high density polyethylene, glass, and Formica® laminate). Tea tree oil (TTO), borax, and vinegar (5% acetic acid) were applied individually as well as in combination for a total of seven treatment solutions. In addition, household bleach (6.15% sodium hypochlorite), sterile reverse osmosis (RO) water, and no applied treatment were used as controls. Treatments were tested using an adaptation of the Environmental Protection Agency DIS/TSS-10 test method, whereby each contaminated surface was treated with 100 µl of test solution and held for 1 min followed by submersion in neutralizing buffer and microbiological plating. Samples (0.1 ml) were plated onto TSA and incubated at 35°C for 48 h prior to colony counting. Bleach reduced microbial populations significantly with greater than 5-log reduction reported for all surfaces (Formica® laminate, glass, and HDPE), against E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and S. Typhimurium. TTO produced reductions between four and five logs for E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and S. Typhimurium and was not statistically different from the vinegar treatment (P>0.05). All combination recipes, including the borax treatment, failed to produce reductions in microbial populations at levels considered to be appropriate for food contact surface sanitizers. Surface type did not play a significant role in the effectiveness of the treatment (P>0.05). Although TTO and vinegar did reduce pathogen populations on surfaces, reductions were not sufficient enough to be considered an equally effective alternative to household bleach.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Science in Life Sciencesen
dc.identifier.otheretd-11202009-215409en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-11202009-215409/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/35775en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartZekert_AE_T_2009.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectL. monocytogenesen
dc.subjectFood Contact Surfacesen
dc.subjectTea Tree Oilen
dc.subjectSalmonellaen
dc.subjectE. colien
dc.titleEffect of Alternative Household Sanitizing Formulations Including: Tea Tree Oil, Borax, and Vinegar, to Inactivate Foodborne Pathogens on Food Contact Surfacesen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineFood Science and Technologyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science in Life Sciencesen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Zekert_AE_T_2009.pdf
Size:
227.51 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Masters Theses