Short communicationEvaluation of transfer rates of Salmonella from single-use gloves and sleeves to dehydrated pork jerky

- Single-use gloves and sleeve covers were tested for Salmonella transfer rate to jerky.
- Nitrile and vinyl gloves transferred <1% of Salmonella cells to jerky via contact.
- Polyethylene material gloves and sleeve covers transferred 4-6% Salmonella cells.
- Transfer to jerky can happen when glove is contaminated with as few as 100 CFU.

Meat jerky is a popular dried snack food that is typically considered shelf-stable and ready-to-eat. Many jerky processes incorporate post-lethality handling that represents opportunities for contamination through contact with worker hands and gloves. The objective was to identify transfer rates of Salmonella enterica from gloves to dried jerky after handling with three types of single-use gloves (Nitrile, PVC, and PE) and one type of single-use PE-coated sleeve cover. Six Salmonella enterica serovars were mixed and diluted to 7-8 log10 CFU/mL and 2-3 log10 CFU/mL for quantitative and qualitative transfer rate analyses, respectively. For quantitative analysis, high dose inoculum was applied evenly to the palm of the glove and the gloved hands were used to touch three jerky slices successively, simulating a major glove-jerky contact. A total of six inoculations were performed per material (n = 18). For qualitative analysis, low dose inoculum was applied evenly to the palm of the glove and the gloved hands were used to touch the jerky (n = 40) using two contact scenarios (contact with fingers only or fingers and palm) simulating activities associated with hand sorting and packaging. Salmonella were enumerated by plating onto XLT4 following serial dilution or after 24 h enrichment. Salmonella transfer to jerky was significantly greater (P < 0.05) from PE gloves (5.52 ± 0.24 log10 CFU/sample) and sleeves (6.16 ± 0.49 log10 CFU/sample) compared to Nitrile (4.47 ± 0.47 log10 CFU/sample) and PVC gloves (4.66 ± 0.58 log10 CFU/sample). In qualitative analysis, finger-only contact resulted in Salmonella transfer to 10/40 jerky slices from PE gloves and 1/40 slices from Nitrile gloves. However, when the palm of the glove was involved in the contact, Salmonella was detected on all 80 jerky slices, regardless of material type. Selection of materials associated with reduced transfer may be an important strategy for reducing bacterial cross-contamination in jerky production facilities.