Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Episode 138: Fighting Foodborne Illness With New Research

AZSCI 138 Foodborne Illness
Jamain, CC 2.0
Improving food safety using plant-based sanitizers is at the heart of UA researcher Sadhana Ravishankar's work on foodborne illness.

Originally Aired July 6, 2018

UA researcher Sadhana Ravishankar has been working for more than a decade to improve food safety using all-natural, plant-based sanitizers to prevent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses like the recent one involving romaine lettuce grown in Yuma.

Through research and collaboration with farmers, Ravishankar has shown that using essential oils, plant-based extracts and spice powders in a variety of foods can reduce or eliminate harmful bacteria, such as E. coli, salmonella, and listeria.

Episode 138: Fighting Foodborne Illness With New Research

In this Episode:

Sadhana Ravishankar, Associate Professor, University of Arizona School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Science
Tim Swindle, head of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Lab

Arizona Science
Catch Arizona Science each Friday during Science Friday on NPR 89.1. You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, or the NPR App. See more from Arizona Science.