Chlorine dioxide gas makes fruits and vegetables safer
By Susan Steeves
The same sanitizing agent used to rid federal office buildings of anthrax
chlorine dioxide gas can effectively eliminate deadly bacteria from
apples and other fruits and vegetables, according to Purdue University
researchers.
Scientists at Purdue began experiments using the gas to kill pathogens
found on food long before anthrax was detected in mail sent to offices
in New York and Washington, D.C., 16 months ago. The latest university
test measured how effectively different potencies of chlorine dioxide
gas used over various periods of time could kill Listeria monocytogenes
cells on apples.
The study, published in the September issue of Food Microbiology, demonstrated
that the vapor was able to eradicate all of the contaminant on the fruit's
skin and significantly reduce the bacteria in the stem cavity and the
calyx, says Richard Linton, director of Purdue's Center for Food Safety
Engineering and senior author. The calyx is the apple's bottom, directly
opposite from the stem cavity.
"We see more and more cases of foodborne diseases associated with
fruits and vegetables," Linton says. "Some of this is because
we encourage people to eat more and more of these types of foods for
added health benefits. Yet these are two of the groups most susceptible
to bacteria on food.
"Just 10 to 100 cells of Listeria on a piece of food can cause
illness, and it's possible for 1,000 to 10,000 cells to be on a piece
of fruit. We need to develop ways to make food safer; traditional sanitation
methods to remove pathogens are not effective enough to meet these new
standards."
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