Monthly Archives: March 2014

Fresh Plaza

In recent years, the application of pulsed light (PL) technology for fresh produce decontamination has been limited because it causes the produce heating with serious consequences on organoleptic properties and impacts adversely the surface colour (= shadowing effect).

Scientists at University of Delaware (USA) have evaluated the efficacy of PL technology in inactivating Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella growth on blueberries. Moreover, they try to set up this novel technology to minimize the adverse effects of PL, such as heating and shadowing, on the physical and sensorial properties of blueberries.

Growing Georgia

A new biological treatment could help dairy cattle stave off uterine diseases and eventually may help improve food safety for humans, a University of Florida study shows.

Kwang Cheol Jeong, an assistant professor in animal sciences and UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute, examined cattle uterine illnesses because they can make cows infertile, lower milk production and because those maladies are often linked to bacteria, he said. The UF researchers did their experiments in labs and at the Dairy Unit on the Gainesville campus.

Jeong and his research team infused chitosan microparticles ─ an antimicrobial material derived from dissolved shrimp shells ─ into diseased cow uteri.