Multiple approaches needed to fight E. Coli, say Illinois scientists

If the Daily Wire was to publish a list of its top ten stories of the year, the spinach-related E. coli outbreak would surely contend for the top position. Readers know that we have been diligent in reporting a range of detection and anti-contamination devices and systems, and many of them seemed quite promising. Yet now comes word that any one of these approaches may not be sufficiently effective if used on its own.

“We’ve shown that we have some effective weapons to use against the pathogens that have been in the news so often lately, but we’ve seen the best results when we’ve combined the various technologies,” said University of Illinois scientists Scott Martin and Hao Feng, who have diligently tested everything from the ozone to high-intensity ultrasound, electrolyzed water, irradiation, and high temperature. “We’re constantly trying different combinations to achieve the 5-log (99.999 percent) reduction in the number of organisms required by the FDA,” they said. Using various combinations, Martin and Feng have reduced the length of time it takes to reach the Food and Drug Administration’s 5-log reduction standard to thirty seconds. Still, that may be too long for industry. “The thing is we’re making steady progress.”

Interested readers can learn more about the scientists’ use of ultrasound, irradiation, and acidic electrolyzed water to eliminate E. coli on alfalfa and broccoli seeds, as well as the use of high-intensity ultrasound to eliminate E. coli in apple cider, in the February and June 2006 issues of the Journal of Food Science. Their work on inactivation of E. coli with peroxyacetic acid, acidic electrolyzed water, and chlorine on cantaloupes and fresh-cut apples can be found in the November 2006 issue of the Journal of Food Safety.

The work was funded by the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR) and the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station.

-read more in this university news release