Invention to Prevent Food Poisoning: Ultrasonic Salad Cleaning

Southampton University's StarStream cleans with low volumes of cold water in a gentle stream using bubbles and ultrasound. StarStream's current hand held nozzle cleans on a small scale and is therefore not compatible with large commercial scale food washing flumes or tanks.The bagged salad industry is worth over £450M retail sale value in the UK. However, it faces constant challenges due to the lack of an effective wash process without the use of large quantities of chemicals. This project will adapt StarStream to enable the bagged salad industry to clean within a tank or flume. An advanced wash process would improve food safety through enhanced pathogen removal and could increase shelf life by reducing the loading of spoilage microbes on the finished product. Furthermore, the process could also reduce the total amount of water used and the environmental impact of biocides used in many wash systems. Reducing waste, optimising food safety and reducing water use are the biggest challenges facing the bagged salad industry and this technology has the potential to address all three. For example a one day increase in shelf life can equate to up to a 25% reduction in wastage, which would result in both financial and environmental savings. The project will also deliver major improvements to public health through reducing the presence of pathogens, which in turn will reassure the public that the growing-ready-to-eat fresh produce sector is consistently safe and healthy. A cleaning tank will be constructed in ISVR (likely leading to flume and pipe systems). VitaCress will supply a scaled salad wash line and a pipe wash system. Co-supervision by Prof Keevil, and inclusion in NAMRIP USRG, will provide microbiological support and cross-disciplinary experience for the student, and place with work in the broader context of infection prevention.