Antimicrobial Efficacy of GS-2 on Reusable Food Packaging Materials for Specialty Crops
Catherine W. Y. Wong,
Thomas Burton,
Julio Carrera Montoya,
Nupoor Birje,
Xinyi Zhou,
Joelle K. Salazar,
Jason M. Mackenzie,
Thomas F. Rau,
Max Teplitski,
Wei Zhang
Affiliations
Catherine W. Y. Wong
Institute for Food Safety and Health, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Illinois Institute of Technology, 6502 S Archer Rd., Bedford Park, IL 60501, USA
Thomas Burton
Department of Microbiology & Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection & Immunity, University of Melbourne, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Julio Carrera Montoya
Department of Microbiology & Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection & Immunity, University of Melbourne, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Nupoor Birje
Institute for Food Safety and Health, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Illinois Institute of Technology, 6502 S Archer Rd., Bedford Park, IL 60501, USA
Xinyi Zhou
Institute for Food Safety and Health, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Illinois Institute of Technology, 6502 S Archer Rd., Bedford Park, IL 60501, USA
Joelle K. Salazar
Division of Food Processing Science and Technology, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 6502 S Archer Rd., Bedford Park, IL 60501, USA
Jason M. Mackenzie
Department of Microbiology & Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection & Immunity, University of Melbourne, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Thomas F. Rau
Wintermute Biomedical Ltd., Corvallis, MT 59828, USA
Max Teplitski
International Food Produce Association, 1901 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20006, USA
Wei Zhang
Institute for Food Safety and Health, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Illinois Institute of Technology, 6502 S Archer Rd., Bedford Park, IL 60501, USA
The European Union (EU) regulations mandate 10% of all food packaging to be reusable by 2030. United States (U.S.) exporters of specialty crops face new challenges in ensuring microbiological food safety using reusable packaging. A novel antimicrobial formulation consisting of ammonium carboxylate salt of capric acid and L-arginine (GS-2) was recently developed as a spray coating chemical for food packaging materials. In this study, we evaluated the antimicrobial efficacy of GS-2 against microbial strains representing three foodborne bacterial pathogens (Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enterica), one fungal spoilage organism (Aspergillus niger), and one surrogate viral pathogen (murine norovirus) on three reusable plastic materials (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, high-density polyethylene, and polypropylene) and one cardboard packaging material, respectively. Different chemical concentrations, exposure times, and storage conditions were individually evaluated for the relative antimicrobial efficacies of GS-2 against these microorganisms. Our results showed that GS-2 was highly effective for inactivating bacterial pathogens on both plastic and cardboard surfaces. For instance, 3% GS-2 achieved a >5 log CFU/in2 reduction in E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and S. enterica on tested plastic surfaces at an exposure time of 60 min. However, its efficacy against A. niger and murine norovirus was less optimal, resulting in a ≤1 log CFU/in2 reduction on all tested surfaces. Based on our study, GS-2 demonstrated a strong potential as an antibacterial coating reagent for reusable food packaging materials to minimize pathogen contamination and ensure the safety of the specialty crops.
