Bactericidal Treatment of Hatching Eggs III: Effect of Organic Contaminants on Efficacy of Egg Sanitizers

The effectiveness of three sanitizers in killing Salmonella during room temperature storage with and without contaminating feces, egg, or chicken rinse for 48 h was tested. Uncontaminated sanitizers were tested, as were 50-mL solutions of 0.035% polyhexamethylenebiguanide hydrochloride (PHMB), 0.39% (1:256) Tektrol, and 1.4% H2O2, which were contaminated with 10 mL of a feces slurry, 10 mL of mixed egg, or 10 mL of chicken rinse. Each container was inoculated with approximately 1,000 cells of S. typhimurium and cultured after 1 and 5 min. After 24 and 48 h of storage, each original container was reinoculated and assayed for the new inoculum at 1 and 5 min postinoculation. Complete eradication of Salmonella was noted after 1 or 5 min exposure to fresh or stored uncontaminated sanitizer solutions. Tektrol became less active against Salmonella when contaminated with egg and stored for 24 h or more. However, feces or chicken rinse did not interfere with the activity of Tektrol. Hydrogen peroxide deteriorated most with storage with chicken feces and to a lesser extent chicken rinse. PHMB lost efficacy when exposed to chicken feces for 24 h or more, but was not affected by the other contaminants.