Food Protection Trends - November/December 2024 - 423

TABLE 1. Estimated Salmonella counts on banana leaf surfaces following treatment with
different cleaning and sanitizing methods
Cleaning
Sanitizing
No sanitizing
Bleach 3 min
Wiping
Bleach 5 min
PAA 3 min
PAA 5 min
No sanitizing
Bleach 3 min
Scrubbing
Bleach 5 min
PAA 3 min
PAA 5 min
No sanitizing
Bleach 3 min
No cleaning
Bleach 5 min
PAA 3 min
PAA 5 min
Mean count (log CFU/cm2
5.73A
4.15B
2.85C
<1.44
<1.44
5.75A
4.02B
3.58B
<1.44
<1.44
5.75A
4.01B
3.45B
<1.44
<1.44
)a
95% CI (log CFU/cm2
5.59, 5.87
3.82, 4.47
2.52, 3.18
)b
5.61, 5.90
3.69, 4.35
3.25, 3.90
5.61, 5.90
3.68, 4.33
3.19, 3.78
aMeans followed by different letters are significantly different within each cleaning method (Bonferroni adjusted P < 0.05).
b95% confidence interval.
cells that were eliminated by treatment and tested using
Dunnett's adjustment for multiple comparisons.
RESULTS
Salmonella counts and reductions on banana leaf
surfaces
Estimated Salmonella counts on banana leaves for each
treatment combination of cleaning and sanitizing method are
shown in Table 1. For the negative control (i.e., no cleaning
and no sanitizing), Salmonella counts were estimated at 5.75
log CFU/cm2
(95% CI: 5.61, 5.90).
Sanitizing with PAA for either 3 or 5 min resulted in a
reduction of observed Salmonella counts on banana leaf surfaces
below the LOQ (<1.44 log CFU/cm2
) for all samples
evaluated regardless of cleaning method. Therefore, further
statistical analyses of the efficacy of sanitizing banana leaf surfaces
with PAA could not be conducted. Reduction estimates
can be approximated only to their lower bound (i.e., magnitude
of reduction was at least of a magnitude obtained by the
difference between the LOQ and the Salmonella counts on
the negative control).
For the remaining treatments, a significant interaction
was observed whereby Salmonella counts on banana leaf
surfaces were dependent on the combination of cleaning and
sanitizing method utilized (P = 0.0440). When banana leaf
surfaces were cleaned by wiping, sanitizing with bleach for
5 min yielded the lowest Salmonella counts (2.85 log CFU/
cm2
; 95% CI: 3.82, 4.47).
When banana leaf surfaces were cleaned by scrubbing,
bleach sanitizing yielded a significant decrease in Salmonella
counts relative to no sanitizing method (5.75 log CFU/cm2
95% CI: 5.61, 5.90), although no evidence for differences
were observed between duration of bleach sanitizing for 3
versus 5 min (4.02 log CFU/cm2
2.85 log CFU/cm2; 95% CI: 2.52, 318; P = 0.06).
Conversely, in the absence of sanitizing, there was no
evidence of any effect of cleaning method by itself (i.e., wiping,
scrubbing, or no cleaning) on reducing Salmonella (P > 0.99).
Table 2 presents estimates for log reductions in Salmonella
counts on banana leaf surfaces for each treatment combina;
95% CI: 3.69, 4.35 versus
;
; 95% CI: 2.52, 3.18) relative to no sanitizing (5.73 log
CFU/cm2; 95% CI: 5.59, 5.87), followed by bleach sanitizing
for 3 min (4.15 log CFU/cm2
November/December Food Protection Trends 423
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