ARS | Publication request: THE EFFECT OF ELECTROSTATIC TREATMENT AGAINST SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS ON PLASTIC SURFACES

Submitted to: American Society for Microbiology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 10, 2003
Publication Date: October 20, 2003
Citation: Davis, L.D., Williams, A., Mitchell, B.W., Arnold, J.W. 2003. The effect of electrostatic treatment against salmonella enteritidis on plastic surfaces. American Society for Microbiology.

Technical Abstract: Each year 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5000 deaths in the United States are caused by food-borne bacteria. Salmonella enteritidis, a pathogen included in this category, is the cause of the infection, salmonellosis. In poultry processing plants, the lack of sanitary conveyor belts is one possible means of contamination with this bacterium. In particular, an organism may spread from chicken feces to the processing plant equipment, and back to the meat. Conveyor belts can be made of various types of plastic. The purpose of this experiment was to test the effectiveness of the Electrostatic Space Charge System (ESCS) in the treatment of plastic surfaces against Salmonella contamination. Plastic pieces were immersed in a Salmonella culture and incubated for 4 hours at 37°C. Test plastics were subsequently treated by the ESCS for 3 hours at a current of 25 Kv. Control samples were placed in a closed container without electrostatic treatment. After treatment, the individual pieces were swabbed with a sterile cotton swab. The swab was then placed in tryptic soy broth and ten fold serial dilutions of the cultures were performed. The dilutions were plated on plate count agar and incubated at 37°C for 18-24 hours. The electrostatic treatment completely removed S. enteritidis at the levels tested. Minimum log reduction for the samples was as follows: type I- 6.72, type II- 6.37, and type III- 6.45. The results suggest that the electrostatic treatment could be effective in killing pathogens in poultry processing plants.