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Sanitation kit could combat norovirus in food plants By
Jane Byrne
Source of Article: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/Sanitation-kit-could-combat-norovirus-in-food-plants 22-Oct-2008
- A kit for sanitizing food handling environments when
bodily fluid spillages occur can restrict the spread of potential
contaminants such as norovirus, claims its manufacturer. Food safety and sanitation
product supplier, Chemstar Corporation, said the
new container enables employees in a food processing plant to clean and
disinfect bodily fluids spillages quickly and safely at a time when ‘intense
media focus on the recent outbreaks of norovirus,
salmonella and E. coli has resulted in the further scrutiny of cleaning and
disinfection protocols in the food industry.” Bodily fluids such as vomit,
blood, faeces, and urine may contain bacteria, pathogens or viruses such as norovirus, which is one of the most common causes of
gastroenteritis, is highly contagious and can be spread through human contact
In one case, five norovirus outbreaks affecting several hundred people in The US Center for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that among the 232 outbreaks of norovirus reported to the agency from July 1997 to June
2000, 57 per cent were foodborne. All-in-one kit Chemstar
said the kit contains personal protective equipment such as gloves, goggles,
shoe covers, a gown, a scraper, towels and a product designed to soak up
fluid, Chemstar Absorb. “Also included is Chemstar Envirox Tb, an
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered disinfectant, tuberculocide, virucide,
fungicide, bactericide and cleaner,” said the company. It added that its Envirox Tb has a claim against Norovirus and meets
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA )
blood borne pathogen standards for Hepatitis B virus and HIV. Safety precautions According to Gregory Orman, vice president of retail services with Chemstar, as a safety precaution, all bodily fluid spills
should be treated as infectious. “If the fluid is contaminated
and employees don’t take proper precautions, they could unintentionally track
pathogens back into the food handling area. Food contamination could lead to
an outbreak, particularly in cases of noroviruses,
which are easily spread,” he claims. US research A recent US study evaluated how
a new ethanol-based sanitizer could improve hand hygiene as
well as minimize the transmission of viruses in food processing environments.
The findings of the The research team said that they
undertook suspension and fingerpad protocol
assessments using the new sanitizer and the control. In the suspension test, the new
ethanol-based sanitizer showed reduced infectivity of human rotavirus (HRV),
poliovirus type 1 (PV-1), and human norovirus (HNV)
surrogates FCV and MNV-1 by greater than 3 log whereas the control
alcohol-based sanitizer reduced only HRV by greater than 3 log and none of
the additional viruses by greater than 1.2 log after the same exposure. In the fingerpad
experiments, the newly developed sanitizer produced a 2.48 log reduction of
MNV-1 while the control product only produced a 0.91 log reduction. “Based on these results, we
conclude that this new ethanol-based hand sanitizer is a promising option for
reducing the transmission of enteric viruses, including norovirus,
by food handlers and care providers,” said the team. |
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