The wonders of modern science never cease to amaze me (and I am not being sarcastic, this time). A scientist at the US Department of Agriculture in Wyndmoor, PA may have an answer to some of our food-borne illness woes.
Tony Jin has created a biodegradable plastic film which has "a natural antimicrobial agent called nisin". Mr Jin claims, and is backed up by testing, that the film kills bacteria that cause Listeria, Salmonella, and E.coli. The film is made from renewable resources like corn residue. It would be used in packaging to wrap meat and line drink containers.
I think this anti-bacterial film wrap sounds promising. I never know quite what to make of this kind of invention. There have been so many innovations that have sounded great in the beginning, but turned into real disasters. If the corn-based plastic wrap really can kill harmful bacteria, and it is implemented, I hope that it is one for the "win" column.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-04-2008 @ 11:23AM
Alex said...
I'm not sure how much good it would do since it would only kill the bacteria on the surface of food. However, I love the idea of biodegradable food film. I'd replace my saran wrap in a hot minute. As far as the anti-bacterial properties, I think a more practical application might be gloves - they might help reduce cross contamination in food service and keep everyone a little safer in health care. And with all the gloves that get tossed every day it would be fantastic if they were biodegradable. Although, anything antibacterial makes me fear super bugs...
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4-04-2008 @ 1:27PM
Jonathan said...
Just because an antibiotic is "natural" doesn't mean it's safe. Apparently it's already used as a food preservative, so it probably isn't obviously dangerous... but you don't hear too many people saying "we don't have enough preservatives in our lives".
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4-05-2008 @ 12:07AM
aytunc said...
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but once we find a way to kill one variation of these bad bugs, as a part of natural genetic mutation, there will be different species that are stronger that will be resistant to this method. They might even be less suspectible to heat process since it wont be an environmental factor.
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4-06-2008 @ 12:59PM
Andi said...
There are already way too many 'antibacterial' products on the market that do more harm than good. Like aytunc said, bacteria constantly build up resistance to these so-called 'healthier varieties' of products. This makes coming up with stronger medicines and antibiotics much more difficult.
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4-07-2008 @ 8:14AM
BIOPLAST said...
Corn Starch is the reserve carbohydrate of plants. The modification of its properties by chemical means is a key factor in its use in corn-starch based biodegradable bags/films which has a cost addition of 300%-400%. These bags/Films are not as strong or durable as polymer (plastic) bags. Also starch based products can comprise of genetically modified crops (GM Crops).
Bioplast is using its own (patented) unique formula of bacteria enzyme base substrate which is the only biotechnology in the world that is completely bio-degradable as per ASTM and EN/ISO standards with a very low cost addition.
www.bioplast.com.tr
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5-06-2008 @ 3:45PM
n2dasun said...
I've been following Diamant Film (www.diamantfilm.com) for a few months now. They apparently have another biodegradable, PVC-free film, which Google ordered some of back in February. They told me my order would ship today. I'll see how close it seems to Saran-Wrap.
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