Researchers at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety are studying the effectiveness of using antimicrobial blue light — the light used to sanitize hospital and other high traffic surfaces — technology to destroy the foodborne pathogens associated with food poisoning.

The team is exploring the use of blue light in food processing applications to prevent the formation of biofilm — the clusters of micro-organisms like bacteria that are tough to kill — on equipment surfaces.

Source: University of Georgia Center for Food Safety

Currently, food manufacturers apply chemical sanitizers to food preparation surfaces to control the spread of foodborne pathogens. While effective on easily accessible surfaces, this method is not as effective on areas that are hard to reach.

As such, the team wants to explore whether dynamic and harmless light technology employed during manufacturing downtime and close of operation could help to prevent biofilm formation and persistence.

The study, New research highlights blue light technology on foodborne pathogens, appears in the journal the American Society of Animal Science.