Comparison of sodium hypochlorite-based foam and peroxyacetic acid-based fog sanitizing procedures in a salmon smokehouse: Survival of the general microflora and Listeria monocytogenes

The effects of fog sanitization with peroxyacetic acid (hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, and acetic acid in combination) on general hygiene (aerobic plate count) and on Listeria monocytogenes were assessed in a slicing area at a salmon smokehouse and compared with the effects of foam sanitization with sodium hypochlorite (routinely performed at the smokehouse). Two hundred twenty-three environmental samples were collected with sponges and swabs after each of the sanitization procedures, and 68 samples were collected during production. The total culturable aerobic plate count was determined for each sample, and a total of 288 bacterial strains were randomly isolated and tentatively identified to genus level by physiological and biochemical tests. The microflora was dominated by Neisseriaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and lactic acid bacteria during production. Foam sanitization caused a change in the composition of the flora, with Pseudomonas spp. and Alcaligenes spp. being the dominant gram- negative bacteria and Kurthia spp. and Bacillus spp. being the surviving gram-positive bacteria. Bacteria were very sensitive to fog sanitization, and yeasts accounted for almost half of the surviving flora. By a selective isolation method, strains of L. monocytogenes were isolated-and subsequently characterized by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing. Following foam sanitization, 14 to 42% of the samples contained