Reduction of Norovirus in Foods by Nonthermal Treatments: A Review

Abstract

<jats:p>Human noroviruses are enteric pathogens causing a substantial proportion of acute gastroenteritis cases worldwide, irrespective of background variables such as age, ethnicity or gender. Although person-to-person contact is the general route of transmission, foodborne infections are also common. Thorough cooking eliminates noroviruses, but several food products such as berries, leafy vegetables or mollusks undergo only limited heat treatment, if any, before consumption. Novel applications of nonthermal processing technologies are currently under vigorous research, as they can inactivate pathogens to varying degrees while also extending product shelf life with varying effects on nutrient content and perceived quality. These technologies, adopted from several industrial fields, include some methods already approved as food processing methods that have been applied in the food industry for years, even decades. However, a majority of the research has been conducted using bacteria and simple matrixes or surfaces. Hence, this review focuses on norovirus elimination in food matrixes by nonthermal technologies based on four distinctive categories; high hydrostatic pressure, light, irradiation and cold atmospheric plasma. We discuss the properties of norovirus, principles of the chosen technologies and their inactivation mechanisms and present main findings of relevant studies. Further, we provide an overview of the current status of the research and propose future directions for related work.</jats:p>

Research Progress on Biological Accumulation, Detection and Inactivation Technologies of Norovirus in Oysters

“…NTP treatments for inactivating NoVs are shown in Table 2. NTP techniques include HHP treatment, irradiation and plasma treatment [81][82][83]. HuNoV GI.5 4.39 × 10 5 log 10 genome copies 85…”

Common and Potential Emerging Foodborne Viruses: A Comprehensive Review

“…However, practices such as minimizing the handling of foods, using disposable gloves, chilling cooked food, and the proper, frequent washing of hands were advised to substantially reduce the foodborne transmission of noroviruses [79]. Some non-thermal strategies including cold atmospheric plasma, irradiation, ultra violet light, and high hydrostatic pressure can be used to inhibit noroviruses in foods [80].…”

An overview of food safety and COVID-19 infection

“… 89 , 101 Also, Verma (2020) has reported that application parameters such as duration should be optimized for the elimination of viruses on the contaminated material. 94 In terms of food products, inactivation of the Tulane virus on spinach, 102 murine norovirus-1 and hepatitis A virus on fresh meats, 95 norovirus surrogates on blueberries 97 and some other food systems, 103 Tulane virus on romaine lettuce, 104 and Newcastle disease virus on poultry 105 was effectively applied by cold plasma treatment.…”