The U.S. FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule emphasizes the importance of an effective environmental monitoring (EM) program. This study aims to characterize polyurethane foam (PUF) EM tools—currently used in the food industry for the recovery of bacteria from food contact surfaces—for their efficacy in the release and recovery of human enteric viruses. Two viruses (human norovirus [hNoV] and Tulane virus [TV]) were compared at varying inoculum levels, with two EM tools (PUF swab and sponge), two delayed processing times (24 h and 72 h), and one surface type (stainless steel [SS]). Specifically, the objectives were to (1) determine the ability of PUF devices to release viruses for detection and (2) assess the ability of PUF devices to recover viruses from SS surfaces. For TV release from the sponge, there was a significant difference (p = 0.0064) when compared across inoculum level (10⁵ plaque forming unit [PFU]/sponge vs. 10² PFU/sponge). Release of hNoV at a single inoculum level by PUF sponge and swab was compared resulting in a significant difference (p < 0.0001). Data on recovery of TV from SS surfaces using both the sponge and swab indicate significant differences depending on the inoculum level. Recovery of hNoV from SS surfaces differed significantly (p = 0.0030) between the sponge and swab devices. Overall, the study provides a detailed characterization of two commercially available, PUF-based EM tools, and the differences identified in this study can be used to improve the efficacy of EM tools.

中文翻译：

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用于病毒回收和释放的聚氨酯泡沫环境监测工具的特​​性。

《美国食品和药物管理局食品安全现代化法案》针对人类食品的预防性控制规则强调了有效的环境监测（EM）计划的重要性。这项研究旨在表征聚氨酯泡沫（PUF）EM工具（目前在食品工业中用于从食品接触表面回收细菌）在释放和回收人类肠道病毒方面的功效。比较了两种病毒（人类诺如病毒[hNoV]和杜兰病毒[TV]）在不同接种量下的差异，其中使用了两种EM工具（PUF拭子和海绵），两种延迟的处理时间（24小时和72小时）和一种表面类型不锈钢[SS]）。具体而言，目标是（1）确定PUF设备释放病毒进行检测的能力，以及（2）评估PUF设备从SS表面恢复病毒的能力。要从海绵上释放电视， 在整个接种量水平上进行比较时（p = 0.0064）（10 ⁵噬菌斑形成单位[PFU] /海绵vs. 10 ² PFU /海绵）。比较了PUF海绵和棉签在单个接种物水平上释放的hNoV，导致了显着差异（p  <0.0001）。使用海绵和棉签从SS表面回收电视的数据表明，根据接种量的不同，差异很大。 海绵和拭子装置之间从SS表面回收的hNoV差异显着（p = 0.0030）。总体而言，该研究提供了两种可商用的基于PUF的EM工具的详细特性，并且本研究中发现的差异可用于提高EM工具的功效。