Salad spinner? Too much effort!
I’m Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Hospitals know ultraviolet light kills germs. But it’s super expensive!
Enter Joshua Cassar and team from the U-S Department of Animal Science.
They applied PULSES of UV light to diseases commonly found on food. Like E. coli and Salmonella. The pulses were quick – three per second! The researchers tried various numbers of pulses, then counted how many pulses it took to kill the diseases.
Results? Most diseases were eliminated in five seconds after FIFTEEN pulses. ZAAAP!
UV light pulses are a quick way of sanitizing. The researchers think we could use this at home too! Picture it: Disease-free veggies and meat in just five seconds.
Endless dinner time conversation? Up to you!
Reference: Cassar, J. R., Mills, E. W., & Demirci, A. (2022). Characterization of pulsed light for microbial inactivation. Journal of Food Engineering, 334, 111152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2022.111152