Abstract
This work was aimed to produce an “active” food ice to preserve its microbiological safety over time. With this in mind, ice cubes were processed with the addition of H2O2 to water before freezing. Four food ice productions were performed at the industrial level: one control trial without the addition of H2O2 (0OX) and three experimental trials obtained by adding 4, 8, and 12 mg/L of H2O2 (4OX, 8OX, and 12OX), respectively. After production, all food ice trials were artificially contaminated with 102 CFU/100 mL of water-borne pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Enteroccus faecalis ATCC 29212, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853) inoculated individually. Thawed ice samples were then subjected to microbiological analyses performed by the membrane filtration method and the results indicated that only trial 12OX was able to inactivate all bacteria strains. In conclusion, the addition of 12 mg/L H2O2 represents an optimal cost-effective strategy to preserve the microbiological stability of food ice even when it is improperly handled after production.
Highlights
In order to prevent waterborne diseases, the microbiological characteristics of drinking water are of extreme importance [1]; human life is strictly dependent on the quality of drinking water [2]
The quality and safety of packaged food ice does not meet the hygienic standards requested for drinking water [8] and this is imputable to improper handling during production [9], post-production contamination by the transformation environment [4], and to the packaging [10]
This study provides, for the first time, an extended analysis on the survival of the main pathogens responsible for water-borne diseases in humans in food ice produced at industrial level with different concentrations of H2 O2
Summary
In order to prevent waterborne diseases, the microbiological characteristics of drinking water are of extreme importance [1]; human life is strictly dependent on the quality of drinking water [2] For this reason, the application of disinfection methods is necessary to reduce the microbiological risks related to drinking water [3] and its transformation products. Several microorganisms can be found in food ice, mainly intestinal bacteria [5,11,12], and unicellular and filamentous fungi [13] This is due to the capacity of the water microorganisms to survive the freezing process [14]. Proteins placed on cytoplasm membranes are involved in various signal transduction pathways and can modify gene expression, significantly increasing the fluidity of this structure [17,18,19]
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