Control of emerging foodborne viruses using cranberry extracts and chemical sanitizers

Human norovirus (HNoV), hepatitis A virus (HAV) and Aichi virus (AiV) outbreaks that cause severe foodborne disease are on the rise globally. Strategies to prevent and mitigate the spread of these viral infections need to be investigated. HNoV, HAV and AiV are known to be resistant to most of the conventionally used chemical inactivation methods. Cranberry juice (CJ) and cranberry proanthocyanidins (C-PAC) have demonstrated antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. CJ and C-PAC have been shown to exhibit antiviral activities against HNoV surrogates, feline calicivirus (FCV-F9) and murine norovirus (MNV-1) at room temperature. Hence, the objectives of this research were (1) To evaluate dose and time-dependence effects of CJ and C-PAC against HAV and MNV-1; (2) To determine reduction of AiV by CJ and C-PAC (3) To study the survival of HAV and AiV in cranberry-based juices at refrigeration (4°C) and (4) To compare the activity of commercially available chemical compounds (an alkaline wash, and a 0.5% levulinic acid-0.5% SDS wash) against reduction of HAV, MNV-1 and AiV titers. CJ and C-PAC show promise as natural antivirals against HAV, MNV-1 and AiV at 37°C. Damage to viral capsids by CJ was seen in TEM studies. HAV and AiV were found to survive for 21 days in cranberry juices at refrigeration temperature. The commercially available chemical washes were found to be effective in reducing titers of HAV, MNV-1 and AiV to some extent. This study thus helps in evaluating natural as well as chemical control measures for prevention of foodborne viral illnesses.