New University of Alberta research is making 3D printed food safer to eat using the machine itself.
Experiments showed that the heating element inside a 3D food printer, already used to keep edible paste pliable enough to form different shapes, can also kill Salmonella. The harmful bacteria are responsible for five per cent of food-borne illness, 24 per cent of related hospitalizations and 16 per cent of related deaths in Canada every year.
The research helps build knowledge about increasing food safety in the rapidly developing technology of 3D printing, says Julia Barsukova, who conducted the work to earn a master's degree in bioresource technology from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences.
