Antimicrobial Coatings: Built-In Hygiene
To help mitigate risk of cross-contamination, antimicrobial additives can make food industry equipment inherently resistant to microbial colonization. Additives can be integrated into plastics, paints, fabrics, paper, and ceramics to protect products from microbes, such as bacteria and mold. The additives employ multiple modes of action, such as damaging proteins, disrupting cell membranes, causing oxidative stress, and interfering with DNA replication.
Able to be incorporated into virtually any material, antimicrobial additives don’t require any changes to instrument design to achieve a high level of protection.
Employing antimicrobial technologies in farm-to-fork products could lead to a marked improvement in hygiene and a potential decrease in the number of cases of foodborne illnesses. In fact, a case study conducted by BioCote Ltd. investigated Campylobacter bacteria. It found poultry crates designed and treated with antimicrobial technology were less contaminated than untreated crates, throughout all stages of the decontamination process.
Although the large investment required to replace equipment means the use of antimicrobial additives will take time to become widespread, its adoption can already be seen in the design of kitchen utensils, food temperature probes, and food-storage containers.
Switches and buttons are also ideal candidates for treatment with an antimicrobial protection, as these are “high-traffic” areas. Unlike the rest of an instrument casing, staff routinely and repeatedly press these controls when using equipment, and it is these “repeat contacts” that carry a high risk of contamination and ongoing transmission. Routine decontamination protocols are obviously one way of reducing this risk but in a busy kitchen or factory environment these crucial cleaning steps can easily be accidentally missed. Antimicrobial additive’s wide-ranging protection does not require a maintenance protocol or additional burden on staff.
Focusing solely on human error can only take the food industry so far towards preventing foodborne illnesses. In order to improve hygiene, it might be time for the food industry to embrace the possibilities afforded by the promise of antimicrobial materials and create whole antimicrobial kitchen —from light switches, to floors, to refrigerators.
Charteris is partner development manager at BioCote. Reach him at [email protected].
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