Use of Electron Beam Radiation for the Reduction of Salmonella Enterica Serovars Typhimurium and Tennessee in Peanut Butter

Peanut butter and peanut paste products were implicated as the vehicle of contamination in an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium, which began in September 2008, and in the November 2006 outbreak of Salmonella Tennessee. Therefore, this study evaluated the effectiveness of electron beam (e-beam) radiation for the reduction of Salmonella serovars Tennessee (ATCC 10722) and Typhimurium (ATCC 14028) in creamy peanut butter. Each strain was studied independently. Peanut butter samples were inoculated with approximately 8.0 log CFU/g of Salmonella, and exposed to e-beam doses ranging from 0 to 3.1 kGy. Doses were confirmed with film dosimetry. Survivors were enumerated by standard spread plating on nonselective tryptic soy agar (TSA) and selective xylose-lysine-desoxycholate agar (XLD) media. Salmonella Tennessee was more susceptible to e-beam radiation, with 5.00- and 6.75-log reduction of cells on TSA and XLD, respectively, at the approximate e-beam dose of 3.0 kGy. Salmonella Typhimurium was reduced by 4.19 and 4.85 log on TSA and XLD, respectively, at the approximate e-beam dose of 3.0 kGy. D(10)-values show that Salmonella Typhimurium was more resistant (0.82 +/- 0.02 and 0.73 +/- 0.01 kGy on TSA and XLD, respectively) than was Salmonella Tennessee (0.72 +/- 0.02 and 0.60 +/- 0.01 kGy on TSA and XLD, respectively) to e-beam radiation (P < 0.05). The recovery on growth and selective media were different (P < 0.05), indicating cell injury. The results of this study demonstrate that e-beam radiation may be an effective processing step for the nonthermal inactivation of Salmonella in peanut butter.