Emerging Methods and Principles in Food Contact Surface Decontamination/Prevention
Abstract Food contact surfaces comprise all surfaces that may come into contact with food products during production, processing, and packaging. These surfaces are typically made of stainless steel or some kind of plastic material, but contact surfaces may also consist of other materials like wood, rubber, ceramics, or glass. Recent developments in food contact surface decontamination are described in this chapter, with an emphasis on emerging methods. Cleaning is not covered, nor is biofilm. The chapter is focused on emerging methods and agents and does not cover widely used agents like chlorine, iodine, quaternary ammonium compounds, carboxylic acid, and acid anionic sanitizers. The methods are grouped as nonthermal and thermal, and there is also an attempt to separate methods that rely on direct contact (liquid, foam) and those that do not (plasma, steam, and fogging) Furthermore, aspects of prevention of recontamination through hygienic design and physical barriers are described, as are future trends and sources of more information.