An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, has shown that a relatively inexpensive steam-cleaner – designed to remove wallpaper and clean outdoor grills, kitchen counters, and other household surfaces – can rid cantaloupes, and possibly other produce, of Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Listeria more effectively than existing washes and chlorine treatments.
The technology could reduce the number of cases of foodborne outbreaks from contaminated produce, which each year cause an estimated 1.2 million illnesses, 7,100 hospitalizations, and 134 deaths. They also generate $1.4 billion in illness-related costs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dike Ukuku and his colleagues at the ARS Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Unit in Wyndmoor submersed 24 cantaloupes in a bath inoculated with E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria strains, then dried and refrigerated them at 41 °F for 7 days. They then used a commercially available power steamer to steam-clean the cantaloupes by sweeping the spray nozzle across the fruit for 3 minutes. They placed the nozzle 3 inches from the cantaloupe, a distance that produced 154 °F steam at the point of contact. That temperature was hot enough to kill surface pathogens but not damage the fruit. They used a 915 Wagner Power Steamer, but any steamer generating the same heat would likely produce similar results.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: USDA AgResearch Magazine
