Acting to correct and control some of the salmonella outbreaks which are growing more prevalent in the United States, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is focusing on the consumption of eggs contaminated with the bacterium Salmonella enteritidis. As the poultry industry digests the implications for the FDA’s preventative measures, good news is waiting in the wings.

Attendees at the June meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) heard a paper entitled: “Decontamination of Shell-Eggs with Pulsed UV-Light”. The paper demonstrated the positive effects of pulsed light in handling Salmonella enteritidis PT8NSR by reducing the population of the bacterium on the surface of shell-eggs, which can become contaminated on the farm when laying hens have infections.

Xenon’s SteriPulse-XL® RS-3000 system has been shown to kill the microorganisms without causing heat damage to the delicate product within the egg shell.

Both the FDA’s regulatory announcement and the ASABE paper “Decontamination of Shell-Eggs with Pulsed UV-Light” can be found on Xenon’s website.

A 2009 offering in CRC Press’s “Contemporary Food Engineering” series, this book features the joint works of Tatiana N. Koutchma, Larry J. Forney, and Carmen I. Moraru, three well-respected researchers in the field of food science. Chapter 10 by Carmen Moraru and Aaron Uesugi is of particular interest to those allied with pulsed light for safe food enhancement.

The authors offer an excellent description of pulsed light treatment that includes an overview of pulsed light equipment from flash lamp design and pulsed light generation through the design and function of systems.

With this background established Moraru and Uesugi continue on to discuss how pulsed light inactivates microorganisms in food systems, illustrating their work generously with graphs and charts. They give special attention to meats and to fruits and vegetables as well as to packaging materials. The final section of this chapter is devoted to discussion on the future prospects of pulsed light treatment in the food industry. The chapter is generously annotated.

You can order the book from Amazon.com

Xenon Corporation has doubled a good thing by introducing a newly-developed 30-inch linear lamp and lamp housing. Dubbed the Model LH-870, the housing can substitute for the two-16 inch lamp configurations that are often used presently in applications requiring wide or long surface curing. In applications such as wood coating, the LH-870 is expected to be in high demand.

In addition to the 1-inch x 30- inch optical curing area, the LH-870 has an optimum distance to target of 1.0-inch from the window face. With pulse energy and pulse rate of 19.4 J/pulse @100 pps, the LH-870 also features a control cable of 3 meters and a high voltage cable of 3 meters. Follow this link for additional specs.

Xenon Corporation is pleased to announced that its RC-800 and RC-900 systems are now available in 3-phase power configurations. In higher energy applications, this higher voltage option keeps current lower. Customers wished for it. We granted it.

Food safety, dietary health and regulatory issues will be featured topics, and Mr. Panico will join an impressive roster of speakers from industry and academia.

Mr. Panico is expected to discuss how mushroom growers are using pulsed light exposure to enhance the natural Vitamin D in mushrooms in less than one second. (Actually the mushrooms have relatively high levels of ergosterol which converts to ergocalciferol--Vitamin D2.) By installing pulsed light in its in-line manufacturing process, the mushroom growers are using short bursts of light to safely and significantly increase the health value of the humble mushroom when exposed to pulsed light.

The mushroom conference has been a Penn State tradition since 1956 and the annual conference promotes the growth and welfare of the North American mushroom industry. Register online at conferences.cas.psu.edu or call 877-778-2937.

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