A critical review on the survival and elimination of norovirus in food and on food contact surfaces

Authors: COOK, NIGEL - Food And Environmental Research Agency; KNIGHT, ANGUS - Leatherhead Food Research; Richards, Gary; STEIN, JONATHAN - Food And Environmental Research Agency

Submitted to: Review Article
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/4/2015
Publication Date: 9/15/2015
Citation: Cook, N., Knight, A., Richards, G.P., Stein, J. 2015. A critical review on the survival and elimination of norovirus in food and on food contact surfaces. Review Article. https://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/foodborneillness/b14programme/fs101120.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This critical review covers the survival of human norovirus (NoV) in foods and on food contact surfaces as well as the state-of-the-art on the effectiveness of methods to eliminate these viruses. Virus survival studies are reviewed for water, soils and organic wastes, on fomites, hands, fruits and vegetables, shellfish and other foods. The principal conclusions which can be drawn are that NoV may persist in water, depending on the type and purity, for long periods. The persistence of NoV in raw fruits and vegetables may easily exceed the shelf-life of the products. Studies on bivalve shellfish showed a persistence of NoV within oysters subjected to depuration for 7 days, a sign that NoV, like other enteric viruses, may persist for long periods within shellfish tissues. In other food products, like cooked turkey, processed foods, apples, lettuce, and berries, NoV persisted for long periods. Norovirus persisted on environmental and food processing surfaces, such as on Formica, stainless steel, PVC and ceramic surfaces, and on human fingers, as determined by molecular methods. The elimination of NoV by chemical and physical means are described and include the use of heat, disinfectants, freezing, irradiation, hand washing, high pressure processing, ozone, and solar/UV irradiation. Heating of NoV in various suspensions reduced NoV RNA levels, although temperatures required to destroy the RNA depended greatly on the suspending solutions and the duration of application. Chlorine appears to be a suitable disinfectant. Hydrogen peroxide, quaternary ammonium compounds, ethoxylated alcohol-based disinfectants and antiseptics at normally used concentrations are ineffective as disinfectants. Ethanol-based hand sanitizers are also relatively ineffective in reducing NoV, although ethanol formulated with other compounds were effective. Various processing techniques have shown some promise in reducing NoV loads from foods, namely cooking or heating, high hydrostatic pressure; alkali treatment, UV irradiation of surfaces, and ozone in solutions containing NoV. Thorough washing of produce had mixed results on reducing NoV on fruits and vegetables, depending on the surface structure of the product. Efforts to date on the propagation of NoV in cell and tissue cultures, the validity of surrogate viruses in norovirus research, the utility of data collected from human volunteer studies, and limitations in the molecular detection of NoV are also reviewed.