This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A low-power blue light could be the key to significantly reducing food poisoning caused by raw chicken in the U.K., scientists at the University of Reading have found. Campylobacter is the most common cause of bacterial food poisoning worldwide.
In the U.K. alone, there are hundreds of thousands of cases each year, costing an estimated £700 million annually in health care and lost productivity. In a study published in the journal Microbiology, researchers from Reading, working in collaboration with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, tested a new technique known as violet-blue photodynamic inactivation (VB-PDI) against 64 different strains of Campylobacter, which is found in around three-quarters of all raw chicken sold in the U.K. Every strain was killed by the treatment, regardless of species or antibiotic resistance profile.
The findings build on previous research that showed blue light treatments could work more effectively than treating chicken with chlorine to kill specific strains of bacteria. Chlorinated chicken is common in the U.S. but is not commonly found in Europe and is a high-profile example of differing food standards and trade barriers between the U.S. and Europe. While cooking kills Campylobacter, cross-contamination from handling raw meat is thought to be the main route of infection.
Symptoms typically last about a week and include stomach cramps, fever, nausea and, in many cases, bloody diarrhea. VB-PDI works by shining a safe, visible violet-blue light onto bacteria, causing molecules naturally found inside their cells to produce lethal levels of destructive compounds called reactive oxygen species. Crucially, the method needs no physical contact with the food and no added chemicals, making it a promising option for use on poultry carcasses in processing plants after slaughter, before products reach consumers.
The researchers estimate that if the technique could reduce contamination of chicken carcasses by a factor of 100, the proportion of highly contaminated carcasses reaching retail could fall from around 1 in 10 to just 1 in 50. The team also found no evidence that Campylobacter bacteria could develop resistance to the treatment. Strains that were already resistant to antibiotics were killed just as effectively as fully susceptible ones.
When one strain was repeatedly exposed to the light over 15 rounds in the laboratory, in an attempt to force resistance to evolve, no increase in tolerance was seen. Aidan Taylor, from the University of Reading and lead author of the study, said, "Campylobacter is a genuinely nasty bug, and its sheer abundance in the food chain, combined with rising antibiotic resistance, makes it a really difficult problem to tackle. "What's exciting about this light-based approach is that it doesn't rely on chemicals or antibiotics at all, so it sidesteps the resistance problem entirely.
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