What if technology could guarantee that the package of cold cuts you just bought were free from Listeria and other harmful bacteria? What if technology could ensure that the antimicrobials in packaging didn’t leach onto your spinach? What if technology could do that without using chemicals? Well…technology can.
Sentinel researchers—members of the FIBRE Network community—are about to commercialise two technologies that take different approaches to safety.
Dr. Mansel Griffiths at University of Guelph has embedded bacteriophages—viruses that eat specific bacteria—in packaging. Phages work by reproducing inside their target bacteria and killing them.
Dr. Huining Xiao, Sentinel theme leader at University of New Brunswick has bonded antimicrobial polymers onto starches to ensure that the former don’t leach from the paper-based packaging they are embedded in to contaminate food. This packaging is promising as a barrier against bacteria such as E.coli and Salmonella aureus.
Both technologies have the potential to open new opportunities for paper-based products.
Click here for source (Paper Advance)
Photo: Paper Advancez
