Taking a Holistic Approach to Food Safety

ARS researchers spend a lot of time finding ways to ensure our fruits, vegetables, and meats are safe from bacteria, pathogens, and diseases. However, one issue with food safety occurs during the food packaging phase

“Post-processing contamination is a major contributor to foodborne illness outbreaks,” said Sudarsan Mukhopadhyay, an ARS chemical engineer in Wyndmoor, PA. “Once packaged in bags, treatment options are very limited.”

ARS scientists are taking a holistic approach to tackle this problem.

“The aim of this project was to increase antimicrobial efficacy while minimizing loss of quality by combining individual treatments and technologies,” said ARS food technologist Xuetong Fan. “It is better to apply treatment combinations simultaneously, rather than sequentially, so that they can be easily adopted by the industry.”

See how researchers are using puled light as part of their approach toward combating food pathogens and diseases.

Check out "For Safety’s Sake, Treat Plant-Based Meat Just Like the Real Thing".