Abstract
Poor hygiene and improper food preparation practices in consumers' homes have previously been demonstrated as contributing to foodborne diseases. To address potential cross-contamination by kitchen utensils in the home, a series of studies was conducted to determine the extent to which the use of a knife or grater on fresh produce would lead to the utensil's contamination with Escherichia coli O157:H7 or Salmonella enterica. When shredding inoculated carrots (ca. 5.3 log CFU/carrot), all graters became contaminated and the number of E. coli O157:H7 present on the utensil was significantly greater than Salmonella (p < 0.05). Contamination of knives after slicing inoculated produce (4.9–5.4 log CFU/produce item) could only be detected by enrichment culture. After slicing tomatoes, honeydew melons, strawberries, cucumbers, and cantaloupes, the average prevalence of knife contamination by the two pathogens was 43%, 17%, 15%, 7%, and 3%, respectively. No significant increase in the incidence or level of contamination occurred on the utensils when residues were present (p > 0.05); however, subsequent contamination of 7 produce items processed with the contaminated utensils did occur. These results highlight the necessity of proper sanitization of these utensils when used in preparation of raw produce.
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