With stories of bacterial outbreaks and food recalls becoming increasingly common (see E. coli and Germany), a pair of West Virginia University scientists is out to provide consumers a defensive weapon.

Jacek Jaczynski, an associate professor of food science, and Kristen Matak, an associate professor of human nutrition and foods, are helping to develop an innovation on the microwave that could bring electron beam (e-beam) technology into the home kitchen.

Both are professors in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.

Germany is in the midst of a massive E. coli outbreak that has infected more than 3,200 people, killing more than 30 and spanning 14 countries to date. Officials have narrowed the source to vegetable sprouts from a farm in North Germany.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that “each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.”

The U.S. General Accounting Office estimates that the costs of foodborne illness range from over $5 billion to more than $22 billion annually. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the cost of medical treatment and lost productivity related to foodborne illnesses from seven of the most harmful bacteria may have been as much as $9.4 billion during 1993.

Jaczynski has studied the effectiveness of e-beam technology at the producer level and found it effective against food-borne pathogens like E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The trick has been making the cumbersome technology portable enough to reach the consumer level.

“The final safety check should be at home, right before you eat the spinach or lettuce or fruit,” Jaczynski said.

E-beams kill microbes without heating the food, which makes it better suited for treating fruits and vegetables that are intended to be served fresh.

Jaczynski and Matak have collaborated with the Tokyo Institute of Technology’s Department of Energy Sciences to translate theory into technology. Colleagues there began development of a prototype e-beam unit that is compact enough to possibly integrate with a household microwave oven. This novel microwave/e-beam device would have a critical extra feature – the ability to saturate food product with electron beams without heating it and consequently compromising texture and quality.

Jaczynski and Matak continue to handle the food science end of the equation, confirming the effectiveness of the electron beam against food-borne pathogenic microbes.

“Our most current findings have shown e-beam to be effective at reducing Salmonella spp. in peanut butter, another ready-to-eat food,” Matak said. “It’s also effective against Enterobacter sakazakii, which is a pathogen of concern in powdered infant formula.”

As the outbreak in Germany demonstrates, additional steps are needed to block the spread of food-borne illness.

“Washing produce isn’t as effective, because these bugs hold on tightly,” said Matak. And while contamination does occur at the producer level, it happens much more frequently in the home kitchen.

-WVU-

dw/06/14/11

CONTACT: Jacek Jaczynski, Associate Professor
304.293.1893; jajaczynski@mail.wvu.edu

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