As a sushi chef, I have used vinegar as a food safe, effective disinfectant for many years. It works by lowering the pH to a level where bacteria can't grow. We use it on everything, from our hands and cutting boards to inside the sushi rice itself. Rice wine vinegar is the "su" in sushi. Salt is also a food safe cleaner/disinfectant we use to scrub/deep clean everything from cutting boards to removing the slime (protective mucus covering) from shellfish, like octopus. It works by crenating microorganisms causing plasmolysis and desiccation (basically drying them out to the point they shrink and die - think salt on a snail). One of the ways we make salmon safe to eat raw is by salting then vinegaring the fillets to kill not only bacteria, but mainly parasites. Just don't leave the vinegar on the salmon too long or it will chemically "cook" it and you will have salmon ceviche instead.
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