Keeping Foods Safe and Bacteria Free

Reported July 2009

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Eating food contaminated with bacteria can cause serious illness. In 2006, at least 276 people became ill and three deaths were attributed to an E. coli outbreak from contaminated spinach. Many people now take extra care to wash and clean food, but is it enough?

Like many people who've had food poisoning, Pat Cantwell remembers the incident well.

"Probably maybe 4 to 5 hours where I became very ill," Cantwell told Ivanhoe.

An estimated 76 million cases of food poisoning occur each year. Giving food a quick rinse isn't always enough.

"Now I have the specific vegetable wash," Cantwell said.

Food processing engineers at Purdue University have a new way to eliminate harmful bacteria in packaged food like spinach and tomatoes.

"We have the potential to kill the bacteria without any type of further changing of the product, there isn't any chemical residues," Kevin Keener, Ph.D., a food processing engineer at Purdue, explained.

The technology uses a set of coils that generate 15,000 volts of electricity and are placed on the outside of a sealed food package. The high voltage knocks apart oxygen and nitrogen molecules inside the package, forming ozone, which kills bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.

"Consumers are requesting and expecting foods to be completely free of bacteria when they're in the grocery store," Dr. Keener said.

Using less energy than a light bulb uses, the technology treats packaged food and gives it a longer shelf life.

"We can also kill bacteria that cause spoilage so we literally can treat the foods and allow the foods to last longer in the refrigerator," Dr. Keener explained.

No matter how long the food lasts, Cantwell is still cautious with most foods.

"Make sure I really wash them when I come in the house even before I even put them in the refrigerator," she said.

Researchers expect to have a commercial system that could work on large quantities of food in 18 to 24 months.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.-USA, contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Kevin Keener, PhD
Food Scientist
Purdue University
kkeener@purdue.edu

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
IEEE
Pender McCarter
IEEE http://www.ieee.org
IEEE-USA http://www.ieeeusa.org
p.mccarter@ieee.org

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