Abstract
Most of family restaurants and other food service facilities operate a system involving bulk food preparation at their central kitchen followed by low-temperature distribution. This study simulated potential bacterial contamination in such food preparation or distribution process to evaluate the effect of disinfection immediately before food consumption. Fresh-cut cabbage was inoculated with Escherichia coli, stored at 5, 15, or 25°C, then treated with sodium hypochlorite solution or electrolyzed acidic water to evaluate the bactericidal effects. Consequently, at either temperature, it became difficult to reduce coliform bacterial count after 8 hours or less of storage following inoculation. This result shows that low-temperature distribution may control microbial growth to some degree, but subsequent disinfection will be difficult once bacterial contamination occurs.
