Antimicrobial Surface Coating to Prevent Cross-Contamination of Produce by Pathogens on Crop Harvesting and Food Processing Equipment

PROJECT SUMMARYTitle:Antimicrobial Surface Coating to Prevent Cross-Contamination of Produce byPathogens on Crop Harvesting and Food Processing EquipmentPI/PD: Ozturk GulustanInstitution: Carrisan Technologies Inc.The overall goal of this project is to develop innovative flexible food grade antimicrobialcoating compositions that can be easily applied to legacy equipment at minimal cost andwhich can be easily removed and reapplied during normal sanitation processes. Thecoating compositions are based on patent pending discoveries that food grade yeast cellsand cell wall particles can bind and stabilize chlorine in high organic contentenvironments and that these cell-based carriers in combination with biopolymers canform mechanically stable antimicrobial coatings which rapidly inactivate microbespreventing cross-contamination of produce under simulated industry conditions. Thosediscoveries illustrate the significant advantage of these coatings verses conventionalantimicrobial coatings including metal ion and organic based antimicrobials andconventional halamines. To translate these discoveries into commercially viable coatingsthe objectives of the proposed research are: (a) Develop approaches for rapid and uniformdeposition of antimicrobial food ingredient-based coatings on conveyor belts and packingtables commonly used in the produce industry; and (b) Evaluate risk reduction using theproposed antimicrobial coatings and validate their cost effectiveness. The antimicrobialcoatings will be extensively evaluated using a combination of physical chemical andbiological assessments and the impact of the coating in reducing cross-contaminationwill be quantified.Success of this research will allow development of innovativeantimicrobial coatings that can be applied to a range of foods and food industry scenariosincluding fresh produce during conveying and packing. The coatings will address one ofthe critical food safety challenges facing the industry providing benefits with significanteconomic and societal impact.