Germ-Fighting Germs - what do restaurants use to sanitize dishes

It's not just plants and animals that get sick.
Even pathogenic microorganisms can be infected.
Federal plant pathologists are now seeking to use this phenomenon as a strategy to combat food poisoning.
Although nature seals most fruits and vegetables in bacteria
Once these external barriers are broken, such as when you cut cucumbers or peel avocado, the food becomes a duck, vessel, or chopping board for any toxic bacteria on your hand.
As a result, Britta Leverentz and William Conway of agricultural research services produce quality and safety laboratories in Beltsville, Maryland.
Start exploring the idea of spraying fresh
Cut agricultural products with phage.
These viruses can only infect and kill bacteria.
In fact, phage is part of the natural way to control bacteria.
Only 1 ml of the lake or river contains millions of viruses.
Most people are quite professional about their toxicity-for example, or maybe only attack certain strains.
It's good, Leverentz added, because you don't want any phage in the kitchen to also eliminate beneficial microorganisms like some lactic acid bacteria.
Like other viruses, phage enters susceptible cells and inserts its own genes.
The host cells then replicate the viruses like mad until they finally explode.
This will release a new generation of phage.
This process is repeated until the virus runs out of a healthy host.
In other words, the infection is self-limiting.
Leverentz explains that phage also dies once the bacterial host disappears.
So far, Leverentz and Conway have focused on identifying strategies that limit them.
For example, on acidic foods, such as apples or tomatoes, the effect of phages disinfection is not good.
However, scientists point out that for items with a more pH-neutral value, such as melon and cucumber slices, the effect of bacterial disinfection is better than that of commercially important disinfectants such as chlorine.
In one experiment, ARS researchers were vaccinated with melon slices in a few parts of a million, and then in the case of 100 million-
For phage
After waiting for 5 days, scientists counted the bacteria that survived.
Incubated with the virus for 5 days at 40 to 50 refrigerated temperatures-a large number of deaths.
The final number is less than one in ten of the starting number, or about 1,000 bacteria.
10 times more than bacteria.
Leverentz says killing is more effective than what is commercially available today.
However, bacteria incubated with phage at room temperature, about 68F, were reduced to only 10 per cent of the number they started-meaning that 10,000 bacteria might survive.
In contrast, when the same test was performed with acidic fruit-apple slices-phage did not provide a significant decrease.
In January, the United StatesS.
The Ministry of Agriculture applied for a patent to disinfect plant products containing phage.
According to a cooperative R & D agreement with the Department of Agriculture in Baltimore-or CRADA --
Intralytix-based companies are providing phage for trials.
The company is known for taking the lead in developing phage to remove large amounts of food poisoning agents in other places such as meat. (SN: 6/3/00, p358).
Leverentz said the new study of USDAs in disinfection of fruits and vegetables has shown great prospects.
As part of its CRADA, Intralytix will receive the first right to commercialize this application technology.
Phage is often quite professional when choosing a host.
For example, those who strike may not do anything.
In fact, one cannot even fight everyone.
That's why scientists are cooking recipes for food.
Protect cocktails from different phage.
However, this narrow host specificity of each of the phages means that to make effective use of them, users must know in advance what bacteria may be present in the food to be sprayed.
In addition, Leverentz said that it is always possible for various pathogens to develop resistance to a specific kind of phages.
This is one reason why we use different cocktails, she said-because this bug is unlikely to develop resistance to more than one kind of phages very quickly.
Another strategy, she says, is to change the recipe for yeast cocktails-Add another yeast or remove one to limit the development of resistance.
However, the safest way to do this is probably to pair the bacteria, she said.
With another kill strategy, one technology can eliminate the survivors left by another.
A possible tool: bacterial element-natural bacteria-Derivative, narrow
Antibiotic spectrum
In fact, efforts to incorporate these foods into food packaging are already in progress (see Germ-
Kill the plastic wrap.
Leverentz says her team wants to identify a product line that can be used anywhere in the factory
Food-based food is prepared in manufacturing plants, restaurants and even in the family kitchen.
In fact, the lack of any flavor in the disinfection of salad vegetables, compared to alternatives such as vinegar mist or chlorine bath, may even give them an advantage.
But this is not the end of the story.
Leverentz said her preliminary test indicated that one day, phage might even be used for disinfection counters, cutting boards and kitchen utensils.
With regard to these acidic foods, her team is working to identify stronger phage strains that may inhibit them.