<![CDATA[Eating utensils contaminated with microorganisms can transmit foodborne diseases. Swab results from tablespoons in the Food Court of PKU Muhammadiyah Gombong Hospital showed Escherichia coli contamination of 20 CFU/cm², which did not meet the quality standards. The disinfection stage in the utensil-washing process is rarely practiced due to limited facilities. This study utilized Eco-enzyme, a fermentation product of vegetable and/or fruit waste, as a natural disinfectant. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of Eco-enzyme in reducing E. coli counts on tablespoons. This research was a True Experimental study using a Randomized Pretest–Posttest Multiple Treatment Design with 3 treatments: dishwashing soap (1:25 mL), Eco-enzyme (1:10 mL), and a combination of dishwashing soap and Eco-enzyme (1:1:10 mL). Each treatment was applied to 6 tenants, resulting in 18 spoon samples. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test followed by a Kruskal–Wallis and post-hoc Pairwise Comparisons. The Wilcoxon test showed significant differences in E. coli counts before and after treatments (p < 0.05). Post-hoc analysis demonstrated that the Eco-enzyme treatment reduced E. coli more effectively than dishwashing soap (p = 0.008), and the combination treatment was also more effective than dishwashing soap (p = 0.036). No significant difference was found between Eco-enzyme and the combination treatment (p = 1.00). In conclusion, both Eco-enzyme and its combination with dishwashing soap effectively reduced E. coli on tablespoons. Future studies may explore various formulations and concentrations of Eco-enzymes for disinfecting other food utensils.]]>
