Treating E.coli with low voltage AC
Emergence of lethal and highly virulent strains of Escherichia coli (E.coli) has become a serious threat to food safety and public health. Some strains of E.coli bacterium such as, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Shiga-like toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), etc., produce Shiga-like toxin or verotoxin which is a major cause of food-borne illness. Each year thousands of people are affected by E.Coli bacterium by eating contaminated beef and other food products. Infection with these lethal bacteria cause severe diarrhoea, dehydration and kidney problems which often lead to death of children and elderly people or long term health problems.
The good news is, low voltage alternating current (AC) treatment can effectively kill E.coli. According to a study conducted by Ajit Mahapatra and colleagues at Fort Valley State University in Georgia and Virginia Tech, recently published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, application of a low voltage alternating current to beef samples inoculated with large number of lethal E. coli can almost completely deactivate the bacteria.
Perhaps the above mentioned finding would help reduce contamination of beef and other food stuff by lethal E.coli bacterium.
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