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PATHOGENS IN FOOD increase as the distance between the farm and fork increase, and as the scale of production increases. In small-scale farming, under good practices, pathogens in food are rare events. They only come into play at a significant level when we go for big scale, at long distances and to achieve extended shelf life. A simple truth. View in LinkedIn

IONIZING RADIATION FOR WATER is rather at its infancy compared to its use in foods, and has been proposed as a candidate method that may have less issues than chlorine purification. The relative dearth of literature on water purification is impressive. The next series will look briefly at ionization radiation water purification. View in LinkedIn

IT'S ALL ABOUT SHELF-LIFE. "As in the heat pasteurization of milk, the irradiation process greatly reduces but does not eliminate all bacteria. Irradiated poultry, for example, still requires refrigeration, but would be safe longer than untreated poultry. Strawberries that have been irradiated will last two to three weeks in the refrigerator compared to only a few days for untreated berries." http://lnkd.in/dK6VbK7 View in LinkedIn

US ARMY USES BIO FILTRATION in Afghanistan. "The "proprietary bacterial consortium" helps create a biofilm that can self-regulate and has proven highly efficient at cleaning wastewater ... within 24 hrs ... so that less than ten percent sludge remained by volume ... traditional septic systems that can take 30 days and leave 40 or 50 percent sludge." http://lnkd.in/dxBYc3R View in LinkedIn

IONIZING RADIATION (the real one) has been most tested in food processing applications, with some deep controversies arising (perceived or real). This backdrop has less relevance to water purification, but exists as a strongly emotive coloring on the subject. And the one with a ton of actual use in the market. http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/foodtox/lectures/lecture16/L16-Food%2520Irradiation_outline.pdf View in LinkedIn

HOME IONIZER WARNING. "If you are using an ionizer to create alkaline water, the natural metals in your water will be concentrated to levels that are higher than in untreated water. This results in water that contains a level of metals and other constituents that is considered dangerous." http://lnkd.in/dT3kvdK View in LinkedIn

"SNAKE OIL ON TAP" is how one respected commentator describes alkaline or ionized water, a new fad backed by large marketing dollars. Once again, this clouds the issue of ionizing radiation treatment of water, which is entirely different. http://lnkd.in/dhXWT8W View in LinkedIn

IONIZED WATER RED HERRING. "Companies are selling machines that put drinking water through an "ionization" process. According to the companies, the process, also called "electrolysis," is accomplished using negatively and positively charged electrodes." This is not the same as using true ionizing radiation for water purification. Beware the confusion. http://lnkd.in/dH5suyE View in LinkedIn

LAB VS FIELD TESTS of ionizing radiation for water treatment require real life pilot plant trials where the chemistry is more complex due to the numerous variables in local conditions. View in LinkedIn

HEAVY IONIZING RADIATION USE IN US FOOD. "In total, 103 000 tonnes of food products were irradiated on mainland United States in 2010. In total, 7 972 tonnes of food products were irradiated in European Union countries in 2012." http://lnkd.in/dSmQEDp View in LinkedIn