SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Blue LEDs, once confined to the world of digital displays and Blu-ray players, have just found a new calling: food preservation. New research at the National University of Singapore shows the potential of using blue LEDs as a chemical-free method to kill bacteria that lead to spoilage.
Earlier this year, public concern about artificial preservatives pushed fast-food restaurants like McDonald's, Subway, and Panera to seriously rethink the ways they keep their food fresh. Using blue LEDs could potentially kill the same bacteria that preservatives do without any of the scary, outrage-rousing chemicals.
The researchers looked at the effect of blue LED exposure on three of the major colonies of bugs that cause food to rot and stomachs to turn: Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella. Their paper, published in the journal Food Microbiology, showed that the blue lights succeeded in inactivating the bacteria, with even better results in cold temperatures and acidic conditions. Foods like fresh-cut fruit, chilled meats, and ready-to-eat seafood, like sushi and lox, could all someday benefit from the pathogen-killing lights.
https://www.inverse.com/article/5154-blue-leds-are-the-future-of-food-preservation
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Friday August 07 2015, @08:12PM
Sounds like it would work on the surface, but how would this inhibit bacteria INSIDE the meat? Cold chills all the matter, but I wouldn't think the light would be absorbed beyond the exterior.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @09:33PM
Generally there isn't bacteria in the center of solid pieces of meat, thus why you only need to sear the outside of tuna. The center being raw isn't as much of a problem as mass media make it out to be.
Anything even slightly processed, like all grocery store ham, will have had injections at some point. That is where the worry of internal bacteria is legitimate.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday August 08 2015, @12:05AM
Not to mention the ground beef problem. !!
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by kurenai.tsubasa on Saturday August 08 2015, @04:40PM
I prefer bison myself. At any rate, would you care to elaborate? Is it due to the grinding process itself or using wooden cutting boards? (hoping I didn't just *woosh*!)
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday August 08 2015, @09:00PM
Massively more surface area in ground beef.
A chunk of steak need only have the outside illuminated by the led or UV lights. But ground meat has that outside layer distributed throughout the entire bulk of the meat. One marginal chunk of meat in the hopper can contaminate 50 pounds of ground round.
And that contamination can be so deeply embedded in the tray of hamburger that no led/UV light can get to it.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Saturday August 08 2015, @04:10AM
Thank you for the enlightenment. I didn't realize, but that makes sense as I think about it.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @10:09PM
My understanding is that most bacteria that spoils food is aerobic. This means they need oxygen to survive in any real number. That is available in large quantities at the surface of meats, but not so much near the center (which makes sense as to why we need circulatory systems and cramp when we exercise). Therefore, most bacteria grow near the surface. However, there are exceptions to this rule, like ground meat and whole birds, which are more likely to get you sick because they have more surface area and small pieces.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @11:58PM
You generally cramp when you exercise because you're breathing wrong.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2015, @02:11AM
I.e. a lack of oxygen in your muscles.
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Friday August 07 2015, @10:10PM
opaque to visible light does not mean opaque to other frequencies. Shorter wavelengths (e.g. UV) will penetrate further - Xrays will go all the way through!