Foodborne illnesses can be extremely uncomfortable, and possibly even fatal, so researchers are working on a device that can sense Salmonella in food before anyone takes a bite.
Harmful bacteria in food cause one in six illnesses in the U.S. every year, and the problem is much worse in developing nations. Out of the 38 million Americans that get food poisoning every year, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported via an American Institute of Physics news release.
There are devices and systems that have the ability to test the safety of food, but this new invention is better because it uses a "wireless acoustic wave sensor platform -- combined with a surface-scanning coil detector", which is extremely low cost.
Most of today's devices can only function if the sensor is inside of a coil "to measure the sensor's signals."
"The key to our discovery is that measurement of biosensors can now be made 'outside the coil' by using a specially designed microfabricated reading device," Yating Chai, a doctoral student in Auburn University's materials engineering program, said.
"In the past, if we were trying to detect whether or not a watermelon was contaminated with Salmonella on the outside of its surface, the sensors would be placed on the watermelon, and then passed through a large coil surrounding it to read the sensors," Chai said.
The device is extremely easy to use. It is handheld and can simply be passed over food to find out if it is contaminated.
"Now, tests can be carried out in agricultural fields or processing plants in real time -- enabling both the food and processing plant equipment and all surfaces to be tested for contamination," Chai said.
Symptoms associated with Salmonella poisoning include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, chills, fever, muscle pain, headaches, and bloody stool, MayoClinic reported.
