Efficacy of Selected Powdered Floor Treatments Against Salmonella, E. coli, and L. monocytogenes on Polyurethane-Concrete Flooring Material Carriers

Abstract

Food processing environment flooring can become contaminated with pathogens in many ways including foot and equipment traffic, incoming materials, and floor drain backups. Natural antimicrobial turmeric and commercially available powdered floor treatments may reduce the levels of pathogens on flooring thereby reducing the risk of cross contamination from the floor to food contact surfaces. These chemicals were evaluated to determine their effectiveness against cocktails of Salmonella , Escherichia coli , and Listeria monocytogenes dried onto the surfaces of carriers made from polyurethane-concrete commercial flooring material. Aqueous test solutions were prepared from the minimum treatment required per m 2 from the manufacturer's instructions diluted in sterile water. Potential synergy between turmeric and a percarbonate based commercial floor treatment was explored with a mixture of turmeric and sodium percarbonate, each at approximately 37g/m 2 application rate. Each inoculated carrier was exposed to the treatment solutions or a sterile water control for 10 minutes at room temperature, neutralized with Hi-Cap neutralizing broth, the bacteria suspended, enumerated, and log 10 reductions calculated for each treatment and inoculum combination. Mean log 10 CFU/carrier reductions with standard deviations ranged between 4.29±0.34 for the sodium percarbonate (SPC) based treatment and 0.004±0.23 for turmeric for Salmonella , 4.81±0.16 for SPC based treatment and -0.16±0.62 for turmeric for E. coli , and 4.88±0.6 for SPC based treatment and -0.16±0.15 for turmeric for L. monocytogenes .

Keywords: Floor Treatment; Food Processing; Hygiene; Pathogens; antimicrobial.