Validation of peracetic acid & chlorine to inactivate Hepatitis A

Hello, I am trying to validate the use of chlorine and or perectic acid washes on fresh fruit and vegetables as an effective way to inactivate Hepatitis A.  In view of recent events in Australia where hepatitis A was linked to berries from china I thought it prudent to validate the effectiveness of these sanitisers on food as opposed to food-contact.  I have found some information for use in medical fcailities but the concentrations cannot be compared to the amounts used on food.  Does anybody have any links to info that could help validate both the use of and the amounts we use.  The effectiveness at low concentrations is linked to contact time but I I need more documentary references to validate.  Any help would be appreciated I have spent hours at this point reading a multitide of scientific research looking for snipits of information that I could use and my head is starting to spin...

Dear katjad,

It’s a topic of considerable scope, economically/safety significant but technically problematic in many ways. I’ve selected a few refs (chronological order) which seemed useful, both general and specific, old/new. I daresay you are familiar with some of them already. Chemists know only too well the pain of sifting through an encyclopedia of abstracts.

There are also a variety of threads on this forum which discuss the sanitary aspects of Cl-containing/PAA for fresh produce.

leafy greens, safety guidelines,IFPA,2006.pdf   437.14KB   27 downloads

 (2006)

http://www.fao.org/d...7e/i1357e00.htm

(2009)

http://www.researchg...irus_on_lettuce

Fraisse et al

(2011)

http://www.google.co...s/US20120219636

(2012)

http://www.foodsafet...e/#.VQO4iI6zdnI

(2013)

The Produce Contamination Problem: Causes and Solutions  edited by Karl R. Matthews et al

(2014)(BOOK)

Rgds / Charles.C

hello katjad,

                    You can try ozone for disinfection-

    Here are some links--

http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/2173968and http://www.ncbi.nlm....cles/PMC203196/

thanks,  I have seen some of these,the difficulty arises when I need to find specifics like exactly how many ppm is effective to kill hepattits a specifically .  I have found this for effluent and wastewater but there the time is not an issue. Fruit are not in a bath for 16 minutes  at 1-3 ppm, they are in it for shorter periods in higher concentrations 50-200 ppm. Our suppliers and farmers use chlorine and percetic acid and they are not all capable of validating so i must do it myself.  I guess I will use the data and eventually design some experiment to show  the effectiveness.   If we start Hepatits A testing then this will be possible. Who knew I would wear so many hats (microbiologist, chemist, plumber, statistiation etc...) when I decided to be a QA manager in the food industry

Dear katjad,

One direct option (assuming you have a budget) might be to check for local trade organisations similar to IFPA. Members of such groups have often met most of the common problems. Their subsequent solutions, if any, are stored and available to members. Membership not free of course. :smile:

Campden act as a similar independent Super-Consultant in UK.

Rgds / Charles.C