Athens, Georgia
June 25, 2008
University of Georgia researchers have developed an
effective technology for reducing contamination of dangerous
bacteria on food. The new antimicrobial wash rapidly kills
Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 on foods ranging from fragile
lettuce to tomatoes, fruits, poultry products and meats. It is
made from inexpensive and readily available ingredients that are
recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The new technology, which has commercial application for the
produce, poultry, meat and egg processing industries, is
available for licensing from the University of Georgia Research
Foundation, Inc., which has filed a patent application on the
new technology.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that,
in the U.S. alone, foodborne pathogens are responsible for 76
million illnesses every year. Of the people affected by those
illnesses, 300,000 are hospitalized and more than 5,000 die.
These widespread outbreaks of food-borne illnesses are
attributed, in part, to the fast-paced distribution of foods
across the nation. Recently, raw tomatoes caused an outbreak of
salmonellosis that sickened more than 300 people in at least 28
states and Canada.
Currently, a chlorine wash is frequently used in a variety of
ways to reduce harmful bacteria levels on vegetables, fruits and
poultry, but because of chlorine's sensitivity to food
components and extraneous materials released in chlorinated
water treatments, many bacteria survive. Chlorine is toxic at
high concentrations, may produce off-flavors and undesirable
appearance of certain food products, and it can only be used in
conjunction with specialized equipment and trained personnel. In
addition, chlorine may be harmful to the environment.
"We can't rely on chlorine to eliminate pathogens on foods,"
said Michael Doyle, one of the new technology's inventors and
director of UGA's Center for Food Safety. "This new technology
is effective, safe for consumers and food processing plant
workers, and does not affect the appearance or quality of the
product. It may actually extend the shelf-life of some types of
produce."
Doyle is an internationally recognized authority on food safety
whose research focuses on developing methods to detect and
control food-borne bacterial pathogens at all levels of the food
continuum, from the farm to the table. He has served as a
scientific advisor to many groups, including the World Health
Organization, the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Defense and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The new antimicrobial technology, developed by Doyle and Center
for Food Safety researcher Tong Zhao, uses a combination of
ingredients that kills bacteria within one to five minutes from
application. It can be used as a spray and immersion solution,
and its concentration can be adjusted for treatment of fragile
foods such as leafy produce, more robust foods such as poultry,
or food preparation equipment and food transportation vehicles.
"The effectiveness, easy storage and application, and low cost
of this novel antibacterial make it applicable not only at food
processing facilities, but also at points-of-sale and at home,
restaurants and military bases. The development of this
technology is timely, given the recent, sequential outbreaks of
foodborne pathogens," said Gennaro Gama, UGARF technology
manager in charge of licensing this technology. |
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