Abstract
Viruses on some foods can be inactivated by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. This green technology has little impact on product quality and, thus, could be used to increase food safety. While its bactericidal effect has been studied extensively, little is known about the viricidal effect of UV on foods. The mechanism of viral inactivation by UV results mainly from an alteration of the genetic material (DNA or RNA) within the viral capsid and, to a lesser extent, by modifying major and minor viral proteins of the capsid. In this review, we examine the potential of UV treatment as a means of inactivating viruses on food processing surfaces and different foods. The most common foodborne viruses and their laboratory surrogates; further explanation on the inactivation mechanism and its efficacy in water, liquid foods, meat products, fruits, and vegetables; and the prospects for the commercial application of this technology are discussed. Lastly, we describe UV’s limitations and legislation surrounding its use. Based on our review of the literature, viral inactivation in water seems to be particularly effective. While consistent inactivation through turbid liquid food or the entire surface of irregular food matrices is more challenging, some treatments on different food matrices seem promising.
Highlights
Ultraviolet (UV) light refers to the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that falls in the wavelength range of 100–400 nm. This band is divided into vacuum UV (100–200 nm), UV-C (200–280 nm), UV-B (280–315 nm) and UV-A (315–400 nm)
hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common hepatitis virus associated with meat products, hepatitis A virus (HAV) has been detected in processed and raw meats in South America [46] and 117 cases of human noroviruses (HuNoV) were traced to an infected handler employed in the production of a ready-to-eat meat product [47]
A still modest but higher inactivation of feline calicivirus (FCV) and Escherichia coli coliphages MS2 and φX174 (0.97–2.8 log reduction) was observed on pork liver, ham and sausage treated by pulsed light at fluences of 45–60 J/cm2 [148]
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. For HAV, the number of foodborne cases is smaller (14 million worldwide), but the mortality rate is 10 times higher (28,000 per year) and its incidence is increasing at a worrying pace in and around Europe [11,19]. Public health authorities have noted an increase in cases of hepatitis E virus (HEV), an emerging foodborne virus, in countries with high standards of hygiene [35,36]. HEV is the most common hepatitis virus associated with meat products, HAV has been detected in processed and raw meats in South America [46] and 117 cases of HuNoV were traced to an infected handler employed in the production of a ready-to-eat meat product [47]. We examine inactivation of the most important foodborne viruses and their laboratory surrogates by UV light and discuss the commercial applicability of this technology to specific food types and food contact surfaces
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