UV Sterilizer

UltraVcare™ UVC Sterilizer can be used to quickly decontaminate/sterilize medical equipment like N95 masks, eye goggles, face shields, etc. This also enables reuse or multiple time usage of these masks and helps front-line workers like doctors and nurses to remain infection-free, even when there is a shortage/unavailability of masks and PPEs.

When the fresh produce reaches you, it might not be completely free of virus, foodborne pathogens, Typically, consumers don’t wash fresh produce if it has been pre-washed, and those who do generally just wash it a couple of times with tap water. There’s been nothing that’s really effective that you can use at home to ensure clean produce, so the idea was to develop something that can be used in the home. UltraVcare™ will be easy to use and could also have applications in restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals and commercial kitchens. The UltraVcare™ will have a simple control panel to allow users to adjust treatment time and will offer a fixed UV intensity from top and bottom.

Case Study: We applied two simulated Salmonella pathogen contamination scenarios: spot-inoculation, in which welcontaminated a piece of produce in a particular spot, and dip-inoculation, involving contaminating the entire piece of produce. After using samples of lettuce, spinach, tomato, blueberry and strawberry in the two scenarios, we found that the UltraVcare™ decontaminated the fresh produce much more effectively than washing it with plain tap water. The UltraVcare™ could kill 99.7 percent of the Salmonella on the dip-inoculated lettuce, while the tap water washing could only kill 59.3 percent, we noted. “For spot inoculation, the UltraVcare™ is a lot better. It showed a lot of reduction. It can kill 99.999 percent of Salmonella spot-inoculated on tomatoes.

UV light treatment will not heat fresh produce and will not have a negative effect on its sensory properties. “The produce will be cold. You put it in and take it out, and nothing about the taste changes.