Efficacies of Cleaning Methods for Decontaminating Vibrio parahaemolyticus on the Surfaces of Cutting Boards Cross-Contaminated from Grated Fish Fillet.

Four types of cutting boards (wood, polyethylene, polypropylene and acrylic) were contaminated with grated fish fillet inoculated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus. To simulate a used cutting board, wood cutting boards were treated with sandpaper for 20 min in the same direction. The initial populations of V. parahaemolyticus without and with 3% (w/v) salt were 6.10 and 6.57 log cfu/g, respectively. After 1 h, levels of V. parahaemolyticus transferred to cutting board surfaces without and with 3% salt were 2.8-4.1 and 1.6-3.6 log cfu/g, respectively. Transfer levels of V. parahaemolyticus from the cutting boards to cucumber were 3.36 and 3.27 log cfu/unit area on the wood cutting boards at 25C indicating high levels could cross-contaminate to cucumber. For evaluation of cleaning methods, wiping with paper towels (dry, wetted with water, wetted with alcohol and wetted with chlorine) reduced levels of V. parahaemolyticus on the cutting boards to <2.38 log cfu/unit area. Washing with water was less effective at reducing levels of V. parahaemolyticus on cutting boards than towel wiping methods. However, a combined cleaning method with an alcohol paper towel and running water was the most effective at eliminating V. parahaemolyticus on the surface of cutting boards under normal use conditions. Practical Applications Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection has been implicated in a number of illness outbreaks linked to food consumption. When raw fish contaminated with V. parahaemolyticus is handled in the kitchen, the surface of cutting boards can be easily contaminated. We investigated levels of V. parahaemolyticus cross-contamination from grated fish fillet to cutting boards along with the effects of cleaning method for reducing V. parahaemolyticus. Although wiping with alcohol towel was effective, one-step cleaning methods did not completely eliminate attached V. parahaemolyticus on the cutting boards. Therefore, a combined cleaning method with an alcohol paper towel and running water was suggested as the most effective way to eliminate V. parahaemolyticus on the surfaces of cutting boards under normal use conditions. These results can be used to develop kitchen safety guidelines for preventing foodborne outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]