You want to eat healthy, which means eating your vegetables, but you’re scared because of outbreaks of food pathogens like E. Coli and Listeria. You’ve read that washing it, even by the supplier, isn’t always effective. And when you find out that growers in the Salinas Valley, where most of the country’s produce is grown, use tertiary treated sewage effluent for irregation, you really don’t want to eat your vegetables.
But Purdue has your back. Researchers at the Purdue University have devised a one-two punch to knock out food pathogens. First, they have a laser system to detect the pathogens, and then they kill them with Chlorine Dioxide gas.
“If the product is safe, but nobody will eat it, that’s not what we want,” Linton said.”We are always thinking in terms of, “Will this work for industry?’ In this case, I believe the answer is yes. I would like to see this technology used regularly by industry in a couple years from now.”Both technologies have the potential to help prevent food-borne illness, Linton said, but he also noted that following proper agricultural practices is as important, if not more important, for food safety.
Since E. coli, or Escherichia coli, is found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, it does not naturally contaminate most produce. Therefore, following more stringent sanitary policies, as well as practicing better manure and water management, can go a long way to help prevent future outbreaks, Linton said.
I’m with Dr. Linton on this – let’s do all the things we should be doing, and not just rely on trying to clean up the mess at the end. But I’m glad we may well have a more effective way to clean up the mess at the end.
