Impact of cleaning and disinfection on the non-culturable and culturable bacterial loads of food-contact surfaces at a beef processing plant

We assessed the impact of industrial cleaning and disinfection (C&D) on colony-forming units (CFUs), viable (culturable and viable but non-culturable) cells and on total cells (viable and dead cells). Bacterial loads on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and stainless steel surfaces in a cutting room at a beef processing plant were determined before and after C&D by real-time PCR to quantify cells from successive swabs from surfaces with or without an ethidium monoazide pre-treatment and by CFU counts on tryptone soy agar. Agar contact plates were also applied after C&D for comparison. Before C&D, total cells reached 5.4 and 4.7 log cells/cm2, viable cells 4.0 and 4.4 log cells/cm2 and CFUs 3.1 and 2.9 log CFU/cm2 on PVC and stainless steel surfaces, respectively. Although C&D left surfaces visually clean, it did not lead to a significant reduction in total cells. Significant reductions were only observed on PVC for CFUs: 0.8 log and on stainless steel surfaces for viable cells and CFUs: 0.8 and 1.5 log, respectively. Our results show that CFUs were both more easily detached and killed on stainless steel surfaces than on PVC surfaces. Other important results include the following observations: 1) a single swabbing detached only between 2 and 27% of the actual bacterial load; 2) after C&D, the difference between the actual culturable population and the one assessed by one agar contact plate was 1.9 and 2.7 log CFU/cm2 on PVC and stainless steel surfaces, respectively.

► Industrial C&D did not significantly decrease total cell counts assessed by qPCR.
► CFUs were more easily detached and killed on stainless steel than on PVC.
► CFU reduction on stainless steel was only 1.5 log.
► Viable cells assessed by EMA-qPCR were 1.1 to 2.5 log greater than CFUs.
► A single swabbing detached between 2 and 27% of the actual bacterial load.