Food irradiation can reduce foodborne illnesses but is rarely used in the United States. We determined whether outbreaks related to Campylobacter, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes were linked to irradiation-eligible foods. Of 482 outbreaks, 155 (32.2%) were linked to an irradiation-eligible food, none of which were known to be irradiated.
Posted in Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Irradiation, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk
Dining tables may present a risk to diners by transmitting bacteria and/or viruses. Currently, there is a lack of an environmental-friendly and convenient means to protect diners when they are sitting together. This investigation constructed far-UVC excimer lamps to disinfect dining-table surfaces. The lamps were mounted at different heights and orientations, and the irradiance on table surfaces was measured. The irradiation doses to obtain different inactivation efficiencies for Escherichia coli (E. coli) were provided. In addition, numerical modeling was conducted for irradiance and the resulting inactivation efficiency. The surface-to-surface (S2S) model was validated with the measured irradiance. The germicidal performance of far-UVC irradiation, the far-UVC doses to which diners were exposed, and the risk of exposure to the generated ozone were evaluated. The results revealed that an irradiation dose of 12.8 mJ/cm2 can disinfect 99.9% of E. coli on surfaces. By varying the lamp irradiance output, the number and positions of the lamps, the far-UVC irradiation can achieve a 3-log reduction for a dining duration of 5 min. Besides, the far-UVC lamp has a low damage risk to diners when achieving an effective inactivation rate. Moreover, there is virtually no ozone exposure risk in a mechanically ventilated dining hall.
Posted in Decontamination Microbial, E.coli, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Irradiation, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, UV Microbiology, UV-C
Alison Johnson, managing director at Food Forensics, discusses the use of irradiation in the fight against salmonella, campylobacter and E.coli.
When electron beam technology is used to process food, it is called food irradiation. Food Irradiation, like pasteurization, can prevent countless infections because it destroys the pathogens than cause the illness.
Food borne illness is one of the most common preventable public health problems in the world today. Several measures can be taken in processing plants to help mitigate the problems, but none have the potential to be more effective than irradiation processing. Common pathogens such as e.coli and salmonella are easily destroyed when irradiated.
Today, 38 countries, including the United States, have approved the use of irradiation processing for a wide variety of food items. Test market studies have shown that the general public accepts irradiated items and actually prefers them over non-irradiated items when educational materials are available at point of purchase.
Media scrutiny about e.coli outbreaks and salmonella poisonings are becoming a common occurrence. People are becoming more aware of these very real concerns. In time, the general public will readily accept this valuable technology. With all the endorsements and proof that irradiated foods are 100% safe to consume, how could they not?
In today’s world, we have the proven technology that is capable of eliminating common food borne diseases.
These diseases cause sickness and death to countless numbers of people the world over.
CANADA – A microbiologist with the University of Manitoba suggests the widespread adoption of irradiation of poultry could potentially reduce the number of incidents of foodborne illness in Canada by 25 per cent, writes Bruce Cochrane.
Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation to kill any microorganisms or insects that might be present.
Dr Rick Holley, a food safety and food microbiology professor with the University of Manitoba, observes the association between poultry and campylobacter and salmonella is pretty significant.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Safety, Food Testing, Irradiation, Microbiology, Pathogen
Tagged environment, science
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