Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation

Abstracts - May, 2001


Efficacy of Two Disinfecting Agents Against Mixed Culture Biofilms from Dairy Processing Lines
Manvi Sharma and S. K. Anand

SUMMARY

To devise an effective sanitation program for controlling biofilms prevailing in dairy processing lines, the efficiency of two commonly used disinfecting agents/sanitizers, (chlorine and iodophor), was evaluated under in vitro and in situ conditions. Sanitizer efficacy was determined at various exposure times (1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 min). Sodium hypochlorite at a concentration of 100 ppm and for a contact time of 20 min brought about a 3 log unit reduction in the case of commercial plant (CP) mixed bacterial consortia; however, a 2.2 log unit reduction was achieved for experimental dairy plant (EDP) mixed bacterial consortia under in vitro conditions. On the other hand, iodophor, at a concentration of 10 ppm and with a minimum contact time of 20 min, was found to be most effective (resulting in units greater than 3 log reduction) under both in vitro and in situ conditions. The findings demonstrated that in vitro studies should invariably be repeated under in situ conditions to ensure control of the biofilms prevailing in dairy processing lines.