Making food safer, in a cool way

These days, buying food can seem a little like a game of Russian Roulette. (First spinach, now peanut butter! What's next?) And the follow-up TV and newspaper articles on the flaws in our food growing, processing and delivery system should make everyone want to have their own gardens.

Well, on the better-news front, the Agricultural Research Service (a part of the USDA) is hard at work trying to find solutions, at least for fresh food. And they're looking into some really cool ideas.

They are making "edible films" from pureed fruits and vegetables and exploring ways to incorporate bacteria-fighting compounds into them. One of the most promising antibacterials comes from an active compound in the herb oregano, called carvacrol, which has been found to have significant antimicrobial powers.

Minute amounts of carvacrol could be added to an edible film made from spinach, let's say. A small square of this film could then be slipped into a package of fresh spinach where it would release protective vapors to protect the spinach against pathogens (possibly including E. coli). The vapors could even find their way into the crinkles and folds of a spinach leaf.

In addition to oregano, researchers have also found the essential oils in the following herbs/spices to be effective against E. coli: (in order of effectiveness, with oregano leading the list): thyme, cinnamon, bay leaf, clove, lemongrass and allspice.

To read more about it, check out the full article on the ARS site.

Energy from food waste

There seems to be a minitrend that I hope is as good as it sounds. Some food companies are exploring ways to take the waste that's produced in the course of their manufacturing and convert it to energy.

A recent such announcement comes from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese division of Kraft. Two of their plants in upstate New York plan to convert the whey (a byproduct of cheesemaking) into biogas, thus reducing their gas energy purchases by about one-third.

Another food company looking for similar solutions is Heinz. At their production facility in Oregon, there are plans to produce biofuels from potato peels.

If they joined forces, they might also have a fine potato chowder.

Beyond scratch & sniff...waaay beyond

A small company called First Flavor, in Bala Cynwyd, PA, has come up with a marketing idea that is either genius or disgusting. They have developed a technology called Peel 'n Taste, where a thin sheet of edible film is impregnated with flavor. (It's the same technology as is used to make those breath freshener strips.)

First Flavor is marketing the idea to companies that hope to encourage consumers to buy their product by giving them a taste first. The flavor strip can be delivered in a number of ways, including print ads, direct-mail brochures or in-store displays. First Flavor has created test ads that taste like everything from toothpaste to cherry-vanilla cola to cheese pizza (eeeuww).

One company that has taken them up on the idea is Welch's. Some time in February, People magazine will run an ad that will have a Peel 'n Taste insert for Welch's grape juice. (Hard to imagine anyone who doesn't know what Welch's grape juice tastes like.....)

The challenge to the reader of such a magazine ad is to make sure that s/he is not licking the flavor strip (in the doctor's office, let's say) after several other people have had their go at it. The tip off is in the sealed pouch that holds the flavor strip. If the pouch is unsealed, then someone else has already licked it.

On a side note, First Flavor says that the inspiration for their flavor strips was the scene in the Willy Wonka movie (the Gene Wilder version) in which the kids try one of Wonka's inventions: lickable wallpaper.

Fruit tattoos

Starting this winter (2007), you should start to see citrus fruits at your grocery without those annoying little adhesive labels. The Sunkist company will be the first distributor in this country to label their fruits using a new technology called Natural Light Labeling. The technology was introduced over a year ago, but it has taken this long to be certified by the FDA.

I was fascinated by this idea, so I called the guy who developed the technology. His name is Greg Drouillard and he kindly spent a good bit of time with me on the phone explaining how it works. The way a fruit or vegetable gets labeled is with a teeny, short-duration laser pulse. It removes about .005% of the skin's pigment. This does not in any way affect the shelf life of the produce, because the amount of skin removed is on the cellular level. You would need an electron microscope to even see any depression in the skin. In the case of light-skinned produce (like lemons), a very small amount of food-grade pigment is added to make the label legible.

In addition to being of interest to consumers who are tired of scraping off those pesky little labels (or, in my case, forgetting about them and ending up with them in the recipe), it is apparently also of interest to Homeland Security. They're interested because food can easily be tracked and identified because there is no way to alter the label since it's integral to the skin.

According to Drouillard, only nonedible-skin produce has been approved so far, but edible-skin produce should be approved in a couple of months. Rats, I forgot to ask him how they were going to label raspberries…