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"Miracle Liquid" May Prevent Foodborne Illness

By PritzkerLaw

A simple mixture of table salt and tap water whose ions have been scrambled with an electric current—dubbed electrolyzed water by researchers and miracle liquid by hotel housekeepers—is safe enough to drink and strong enough to kill E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella and other foodborne pathogens, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times:

Used as a sanitizer for decades in Russia and Japan, it's slowly winning acceptance in the United States. A New York poultry processor uses it to kill salmonella on chicken carcasses. Minnesota grocery clerks spray sticky conveyors in the checkout lanes.

. . . It turns out that zapping salt water with low-voltage electricity creates a couple of powerful yet nontoxic cleaning agents. Sodium ions are converted into sodium hydroxide, an alkaline liquid that cleans and degreases like detergent, but without the scrubbing bubbles. Chloride ions become hypochlorous acid, a potent disinfectant known as acid water.

"It's 10 times more effective than bleach in killing bacteria," said Yen-Con Hung, a professor of food science at the University of Georgia-Griffin, who has been researching electrolyzed water for more than a decade. "And it's safe."

. . . Minnesota food scientist Joellen Feirtag said she was similarly skeptical. So she installed an electrolysis unit in her laboratory and began researching the technology. She found that the acid water killed E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria and other nasty pathogens. Yet it was gentle enough to soothe her children's sunburns and acne.

She's now encouraging food processors to take a look at electrolyzed water to help combat the disease outbreaks that have roiled the industry. Most are dubious.

"This sounds too good to be true, which is really the biggest problem," said Feirtag, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota. "But it's only a matter of time before this becomes mainstream."

Read the full article, 'Simple elixir called a ‘miracle liquid'.'

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on March 04, 2009 (boomark / email).