Using pathogenic bacteria in a laboratory setting offers useful information
about the effectiveness of the intervention technology. However,
actual human pathogens cannot be used in a food processing
establishment for a validation study due to the difficulties of eliminating
all pathogens after use. Non-pathogenic surrogate bacteria, with similar
responses to specific food processes as the pathogenic bacteria, would
offer food processors opportunities to validate a process in-plant, without
the use of the actual pathogens. Various non-pathogenic bacteria
have been used as surrogates in studies of various intervention technologies
(Gurtler et al., 2010; Marshall et al., 2005). There were also studies
regarding UV inactivation of surrogate bacteria for E. coli O157:H7 in
apple cider (Donahue et al., 2004). However, suitable surrogates have
not been evaluated for use in studies of response of fruits and vegetables
to UV-C treatment.
The objectives of the present study were to investigate the reduction
of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. on apricot fruit by UV-C treatment,
and to evaluate the survival of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella
spp. during post-treatment storage at two different temperatures. In addition,
the response of Shiga toxin-negative E. coli O157:H7 and attenuated
Salmonella spp. to UV-C was examined.