Distribution, identification, and quantification of residues after treatment of ready-to-eat salami with 36Cl-labeled or nonlabeled chlorine dioxide gas

Authors: Smith, David; Giddings, John; Herges, Grant; ERNST, WILLIAM - Ica Tri-Nova Corporation, Llc

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/20/2016
Publication Date: 10/28/2016
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/5581302
Citation: Smith, D.J., Giddings, J.M., Herges, G.R., Ernst, W. 2016. Distribution, identification, and quantification of residues after treatment of ready-to-eat salami with 36Cl-labeled or nonlabeled chlorine dioxide gas. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 64:8454-8462.

Interpretive Summary: Bacteria that cause human disease or food spoilage may be present on a variety of meat products after harvest and processing. While washing is effective at removing some bacteria from some meat products, there may be problems with water-based rinses compromising product quality or even cross-contaminating other items. Chlorine dioxide gas is very effective at eliminating pathogens, rot organisms, and even viruses from a variety of food and food preparation surfaces. The gaseous form of chlorine dioxide, however, has not been approved by regulatory authorities for use on meat products. Data generated by this study strongly suggests that under the proper conditions chlorine dioxide may be used to ready to eat meat products such as salami without the formation of undesirable chemical residues.

Technical Abstract: Chlorine dioxide gas actively eliminates a variety of food-borne pathogens and rot organisms, including Listeria monocytogenes on food and food preparation surfaces. However the disposition and fate of chlorine dioxide gas on ready-to-eat meat products has not been previously described. When ready-to-eat salami was treated in a closed system with 36Cl-labeled chlorine dioxide gas (5.5 mg per 100 g of salami), essentially all of the radioactive gas was deposited onto the salami. Speciation of the radioactive residues revealed a near quantitative (> 97%) conversion to 36Cl-chloride ion with trace levels (<2%) of chlorate and detectable (~8 dpm above background) levels of chlorite formed. In residue studies conducted with non-labeled chlorine dioxide, sodium perchlorate residues (LOQ, 4 ng/g) were not formed when reactions were protected from light. Sodium chlorate residues were present in control (39.2 ± 4.8 ng/g) and chlorine dioxide treated (128 ± 31.2 ng/g) salami. If sanitation occurred under conditions of illumination, detectable levels (3.7 ± 1.5 ng/g) of perchlorate were formed along with greater quantities of sodium chlorate (183.6 ± 75.4 ng/g). Collectively, these data indicate that chlorine dioxide is chemically reduced by salami and that slow-release formulations might be appropriate for applications on involving the sanitation of ready-to-eat meat products.