Control of human norovirus surrogates in fresh foods by gaseous ozone and a proposed mechanism of inactivation

•Ozone disrupts viral particle structure and degrades viral protein, but leaves RNA intact.•Ozone effectively negates surface-contaminated norovirus from fresh produce.•Murine norovirus is more resistant to gaseous ozone than Tulane virus.

Fresh produce is a major concern for transmission of foodborne enteric viruses as it is normally consumed with no heat treatments and minimal other processing to ensure safety. Commonly used sanitizers are ineffective at removing foodborne viruses from fresh produce. Thus the use of gaseous ozone for viral inactivation was investigated. Ozone has great potential for improved food safety because of four benefits: It is a potent sanitizer, it is effective against a wide range of microorganisms, it is permitted for food use as regulated by the U.S. FDA and several other nations, and it spontaneously decomposes to oxygen leaving no residue. This study determined the effectiveness of gaseous ozone for the sanitization of two norovirus surrogates (MNV-1 and TV) from both liquid media and popular fresh foods where viral contamination is common-lettuce and strawberries. Foods were treated with gaseous ozone at 6% wt/wt ozone in oxygen for 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 min, and surviving viruses were quantified by viral plaque assay. Our results showed that gaseous ozone inactivated norovirus in both liquid media and fresh produce in a dose-dependent manner. These results are promising because ozone treatment significantly reduced two important norovirus surrogates in both liquid and food matrices. Viruses are generally more resistant to sanitation treatments than bacteria, thus gaseous ozone is an effective means to improve fresh produce safety.