Antimicrobial treatments.

The prudent use of decontaminants, sanitizers and other antimicrobial treatments in processing foods appears to generate no bacterial resistance of concern to our health. Researchers recommend that current antimicrobial treatments continue unabated to ensure food safety and public health. The benefits of antimicrobial treatments are numerous. Antimicrobial treatments are helping to keep animals healthy and crops in good physical condition. The treatments also maintain sanitary conditions during processing. However, consumers' increased preference for minimally processed foods may be affecting the survival of resistant bacteria.

The current demand for minimally processed and preservative-free foods may increase the occurrence of resistant pathogens, say scientists, a result of fewer antimicrobial applications to foods that inactivate pathogens during processing. Antimicrobials can come in the form of preservatives applied to keep food from deteriorating, or as fungicides applied to produce, or as sanitizers and disinfectants used on processing equipment. More than 700 soaps and other antimicrobial products are marketed commercially for the home, but use of these decontaminants does not impact bacterial resistance in the environment at the level that medicine and agriculture do. This information can be found in the IFT report: Antimicrobial Resistance: Implications for the Food System.

Contact: Michael Doyle, Center for Food Safety, University of Georgia, Griffin Campus, Melton Building, Griffin, GA 30223. Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. Email: [e-mail].