A Cold Atmospheric Plasma Device to Sanitize Food Industry Surfaces

The vast majority of the planet’s bacteria exist as biofilms adhered to surfaces. While most are harmless, these biofilms may serve as reservoirs for various food-borne pathogens when encountered on food preparation surfaces and agricultural equipment. In the food industry, biofilms are responsible for fouling delivery lines, spoiling food, and acting as reservoirs for disease causing food-borne pathogens. In these industrial environments, a device that could eliminate biofilms and kill bacteria would be beneficial, both reducing illness and sanitation costs. Recently, cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) treatments have shown promise for removing biofilms, but these techniques need considerable improvement before wide application in industrial settings. To address this need, we have developed a CAP treatment device that uses an ionized argon/oxygen gas mix to eradicate biofilms and kill resident bacteria on solid surfaces. The results show that our CAP device can etch both Staph. aureus and E. coli biofilms and kill resident bacteria in biofilms grown on glass, stainless steel, plastic and rubber surfaces. The results of this work provide preliminary proof-of-concept for the application of CAP treatment to reduce microbial contamination on food industry surfaces.