Using Antimicrobials to Control Foodborne Pathogens on Food Products
By Andrei Victorov
Peracetic Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide Use as an Antimicrobial in the Food Industry
In the United States, 48 million people are affected by foodborne pathogens and 3,000 die from food related illness annually according to recent data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This significant public health issue may be largely preventable by ensuring appropriate safety measures are used in the food industry. Applying antimicrobial agents is still an effective approach to control pathogens in food processing and improve safety. The Food and Drug Administration has approved an assortment of antimicrobial chemicals that are well suited for treating food products including peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide. This article will detail both chemicals, their presence in the food industry, and a summary of antimicrobial activity of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide alone or in combination on food products.
An Introduction to Peracetic Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide
Peroxyacetic acid, also known as peracetic acid is an organic peroxide based colorless, clear liquid that has a strong, pungent odor. Peracetic acid is not normally found alone in solution and is commercially sold in a solution that contains acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and stabilizers along with it. This is due to its synthesis process which requires feeding acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide into an aqueous mixture that contains an acidic catalyst such as sulfuric acid. The reaction can be continued up to ten day to achieve high yields of product. With variable concentrations typically ranging from 5% to 15%, consumers can purchase a formulation specific for their application. Peracetic acid diluted to 1-5% is primarily used in the food industry, but other concentrations have additional uses in the healthcare, hospitals, and pharmaceutical industries due to its antimicrobial properties. With similar disinfecting and sterilizing characteristics, Hydrogen peroxide is an additional chemical that can be used in these industries. The chemical is found as a colorless liquid at room temperature with a bitter taste and is manufactured through the anthraquinone process. An antimicrobial, hydrogen peroxide’s oxidizing properties and formation of free radicals helps prevent the spread of food born illnesses. Antimicrobials function to prevent and inhibit pathogens. In the food space, antimicrobials are applied to clean food contact surfaces or to prevent the spread or introduction of pathogen into the food supply. They work through mechanisms that inhibit metabolic functions, damage nucleic acids, denature proteins, and change membrane permeability of the organism which inactivates the cellular activities and kills the pathogen.
Regulation of Antimicrobial Chemicals on Food Products
Prior to treating food products with compounds such as peroxyacetic acid or hydrogen peroxide, the chemicals must be regulated and approved for food application. This requires extensive efficacy studies that highlight appropriate cost efficient chemical concentrations that preserves the quality of food without causing harmful effects towards the food product or the consumer. The FDA code of federal regulations (CFR) along with generally recognized as safe guidelines (GRAS) provides acceptable chemical concentration ranges for food product applications. Hydrogen peroxide is established as safe for use on crops, crop fields, and meats and should not exceed 35% concentration in aqueous solution. GRAS guidelines established a concentration of 0.005% to 2% for peroxyacetic acid. This concentration can be used on fruits and vegetables that are not considered raw agriculture commodities. While set criteria has been established for the use of hydrogen peroxide and peroxyacetic acid on food products separately, there are no clear guidelines for the use of an aqueous solution containing both compounds as a mixture on food products.
Application of Hydrogen Peroxide and/or Peroxyacetic Acid on Food Products
Strategies have begun to combine various antimicrobials to observe increases in antimicrobial efficacy while invertedly reducing the applied concentration. A review of literatures highlighted the effectiveness of utilizing peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide exclusively to treat food products while also demonstrating use cases for combing the two chemicals for treating pathogens including salmonella, Listeria, E.coli on food products. With extensive research and studies conducted, the application of peroxyacetic acid on various foods including lettuce, tomatoes beef and chicken through means of dipping, spraying, and aerosolizing is effective at reducing microbial loads. Hydrogen peroxides use in food application has also been equally studied with research conducted on treated apples, cantaloupe, honey dew, tomatoes, and beef. Research has indicated that the use of the two chemicals alone reduced pathogens on food products by 1-3 log reduction. As a combination, peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide is effective at reducing microbial load as well. Research has been conducted that utilized solutions at varying concentrations on chicken wings to observe rates of microbial reduction. A study indicated that using a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the mixture resulted in the highest microbial reductions. These studies provided insight into the effectivity of mixing both antimicrobial chemicals; however, further research must be conducted to determine the best mixture concentration for specific food items. Overall, with a large list of approved antimicrobial chemicals that can be used in food processing and numerous methods of preparing and mixing concentrations, other treatments may be effective.
In summary, hydrogen peroxide and peroxyacetic acid may be used to control foodborne pathogens on food products. Various studies involving both chemicals at varying concentrations have been conducted to document the effectivity in controlling foodborne pathogens on food products. With many antimicrobials in the market, there is still lots to be discovered in effective antimicrobial sterilization processes.
Resources:
- Rebecca Stearns, Annette Freshour, Cangliang Shen, Literature review for applying peroxyacetic acid and/or hydrogen peroxide to control foodborne pathogens on food products, Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, Volume 10, 2022, 100442, ISSN 2666-1543, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2022.100442.
- Peracetic Acid Sterilization Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities (2008).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Sept. 2016, https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection/sterilization/peracetic-acid.html.
- 21CFR173.370
- 21CFR178
- Health Hazard Information Sheet Peroxyacetic Acid (PAA), USDA, FSIS Environmental, Safety and Health Group (ESHG), https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/2020-08/Peroxyacetic-Acid.pdf
- “Chemical Data Sheet Hydrogen Peroxide and Peroxyacetic Acid Mixture.” Cameo Chemicals, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, https://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/16016.
