Food safety professionals know that controlling the presence of salmonella is crucial in a plant. The CDC estimates that more than 1 million foodborne illnesses in the United States are caused by Salmonella every year. Salmonella infections can be caused by a variety of different foods or cross-contamination. In a food processing environment, Salmonella can be transferred to other foods by cross-contamination with raw ingredients, utensils, water, equipment, soiled hands or footwear. Fighting Salmonella in a facility is a contentious match, but Best Sanitizers’ Alpet product line offers sanitizing hand soaps, hand sanitizers, and surface sanitizers tested effective against the dangerous pathogen.
Salmonella
Type: Gram-negative bacteria
Shape: Rod-shaped
Estimated number of sicknesses in US annually: One million [1]
Estimated number of deaths in US annually: 420 [5]
Estimated cost in US annually: $4 billion [1]
Origin: Found in normal microflora of animals and poultry, unpasteurized milk. [2]
Habitat: Widely dispersed in nature and is more common in the warmer, summer months. It may contaminate factory equipment, hands, and kitchen surfaces and utensils. Survives well on low-moisture foods, such as spices, which can cause wide-spread outbreaks. Salmonella has been found on meats, poultry, eggs, milk, dairy products, fish, shrimp, spices, nuts, coconut, sauces, cake mixes, cream-filled desserts, and toppings that contain raw egg, dried gelatin, peanut butter, cocoa, produce, and chocolate. [3]
Mode of migration: Can be spread from one surface to another, by inanimate and animate objects. [4]
Potential contamination sources: Cross-contamination occurs when Salmonella is spread from a contaminated source – a contaminated food or an infected food handler or animal – to other foods or objects in the environment. [3]
Growth conditions: [2]
Temperature range: 6-46ºC (43-115ºF)
Optimum temperature: 37ºC (98.6ºF)
pH range: 4.1-9.0
Optimum pH: 6.5-7.5
Lowest reported water activity (aw) for growth: 0.93
