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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @10:43PM
I am not really sure why you believe McDonald's cooks their burgers in the microwave, you can generally see the grill from the front counter. The grill is pretty fool-proof too: it has an upper platter that lowers and cooks the meat from both sides is about 90 seconds. The meat is held in a heating tray at something like 130-150 degrees for up to 10-30 minutes (depending on size), at least officially. Many places undoubtably hold the product for longer, but at no point should it be microwaved. Perhaps order your food "fresh" next time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2015, @12:29AM
Maybe your McD still has a grill, but the ones I've been to in San Diego removed them years ago and nuke the patties in plastic trays in a large shelf like microwave. It doesn't look or taste the same as it used to.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2015, @01:54AM
That sounds an awful lot like the UHC [manitowocfsusa.com], which is the heating/holding tray mentioned above. However it is possible that they have switched it out for some horrible multi-level microwave.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2015, @12:37AM
A former McDonalds employee... "The patties are pre-cooked and heated in an industrial microwave"