Cold plasma purifies platter

According to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food-borne pathogens account for 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalisations and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year. As the food industry continues to globalise, food safety is expected to remain a significant public health issue.

In 2000, UW-Madison made a commitment to help tackle this complex problem by hiring an interdisciplinary group of researchers with expertise in food safety.

One member of the food safety team now holds patents for two promising devices that harness cold plasma-a state of matter similar to a chemically and electrically reactive gas-to kill food-borne pathogens. The devices are particularly suited for eventual use in industrial settings, such as food-processing plants.

“Plasma technology is a very important process that is applied in industry. It can do many things, things that often conventional chemistry cannot,” says Frank Denes, associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.