A light technique, or a heavy one? 💡

How easy would it be if we could just simply kill harmful microbes by pointing a light at them? Well, fortunately for us, a new study carried out by researchers at Pennsylvania State University shows that we can, in fact, do precisely that. A light-based food sanitization technique that successfully eliminated multiple harmful pathogens in food has been developed.

• The discovery was that targeted pulses of broad-spectrum light have a germicidal response against a list of pathogens, including E. coli and Salmonella Typhimurium.
• The study also defined the spectrum and energy that are necessary, and that ultraviolet radiation played an important role.
• The technique should not only be an effective alternative to chemical, heat, and water-based antimicrobial technologies, but could also be applicable in sanitized environments such as hospitals, water treatment facilities, and pharmaceutical plants.
• The light pulses are to be applied to a product as it passes by them – the higher intensity results in a greater microbial reduction, and the pulsed flashes, rather than continuous light, make it cheaper than conventional treatments.

In the U.S. alone, a great number of people get sick, hospitalized and/or die annually because of foodborne diseases. So, although progress has been made, food contamination remains a global problem with major public health implications, and any progress is welcome. Ironically enough, the technique seems to hold great promise in that quest.

The team responsible for the research says that the idea is to reduce the number of foodborne disease fatalities to zero and that the new technology will be adopted by the food industry sooner, rather than later.