'Spice' used to fight food bacteria
that they claim can help prevent the most common foodborne germs,
including E. coli and Salmonella, which cause thousands to become
ill or even die each year.
Researchers in Canada are developing a natural antibody cocktail that they claim can help prevent the most common foodborne germs, including E. coli and Salmonella, which cause thousands to become ill or even die each year.
Derived from freeze-dried egg yolk, the substance is nicknamed a spice because it can be sprinkled or sprayed onto meats, fruits and vegetables to complement existing sanitation protocols. The so-called spice does not alter the taste of food, according to the researchers.
Cases of food contamination are increasingly being reported in the developed world and it is also seen as a possible means of bioterrorism.
Research on the compound, which appears promising in early animal tests, was described yesterday at a national meeting of the American Chemical Society. The researchers say that the spice does not kill the germs, but prevents them from infecting the body.
"This spice represents a safe, easy and inexpensive way to enhance your protection against deadly germs that attack humans via food. One day, it will be found in everyone's spice cabinet," said Dr Hoon Sunwoo, chief investigator in the study and a food chemist at the University of Alberta in Canada.
Sunwoo said the antibody can remain active one to two hours after being ingested. "That buys precious time that can help keep you alive," he added.
As with the flu vaccine, hens are injected with specific foodborne pathogens, such as E. Coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Staphyloccoccus and Listeria. The animals then develop antibodies, called IgY (immunoglobulin Y), to these pathogens as their immune system attempts to attack them. These antibodies tend to accumulate in large amounts in the egg yolk, which is then collected, processed and freeze-dried to form a natural, germ-fighting cocktail. Unlike the flu vaccine, which contains inactive viruses, the antibodies found in the spice are not living and pose no risk of infection, according to the scientists.
Germs normally target and bind to the intestine, causing infection. In the presence of the antibody cocktail, the germs bind to their corresponding antibodies. The antibody-germ complex is then eliminated as waste, preventing infection.
More tests are needed before the spice is ready for consumer use, the team said. The paper was presented during a symposium on 'Immune-Enhancing Foods'. If all goes well, human tests could begin within a year, according to Sunwoo. Early tests show that the spice can remain active in a freeze-dried condition for up to two years.
The spice will be most useful when traditional sanitation safeguards (eg rinsing, refrigeration, and thorough cooking) are unavailable or unreliable, the researchers said, such as in foods that are prepared outdoors or meals that are eaten away from home. The 'spice' can even be added to beverages, including water and fruit juice, said Sunwoo.
At the industrial level, the spice can be dissolved in water and sprayed onto meat carcasses to complement other processing methods, such as irradiation, or applied to final packaging. Such extra-protection methods would be welcome news for an industry that has been recently plagued with record-high meat recalls.
