Some of us do have our qualms about eating raw food – especially sushi, although being served a portion at an upmarket Japanese restaurant certainly brings more peace of mind than a fly-by-night operator who touts his wares at dirt cheap prices. There is the possibility of raw food being contaminated by bacteria which could lead to you making frequent visits to the porcelain throne after that, and a new proof-of-concept study conducted by food safety researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia could offer you new hope. Their study pointed to the use of plasma to kill bacteria that homes in on uncooked poultry, vegetables and other kinds of foods. In essence, a ‘plasma torch’ of sorts can change the way the food and restaurant industry operates down the road, since removing harmful bacteria before it arrives at the supermarket or restaurant will certainly reduce the risk of cross-contamination during the food preparation process.
When contaminated samples were given a dose of the plasma torch, harmful bacteria like Campylobacter and Salmonella were almost wiped out. Since plasma is non-thermal, you will not have your food altered in any way since no heat is involved to cook the food. At this point in time, plasma technology is super expensive to make the transition for a large scale rollout. Having a personal plasma torch handy would be a good idea always the next time you want to indulge in a little bit of sushi, no?
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