Ethan Braund
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Woolwich Observer
A University of Guelph researcher is looking to make decontamination technology commonplace in the agri-food industry.
Dr. Keith Warriner developed a technique that can kill food pathogens using hydroxyl radical technology.
Warriner told The Observer that he initially started on the path to the invention in the 1990s in the UK when there was a major problem with E. coli and similar bacteria.
“Some of the retailers were getting very concerned, because retailers like Marks & Spencer can’t have outbreaks and things like this. They asked us to look at their wash process, and we said, ‘Look, it doesn’t work. Washing doesn’t do anything. If anything, it adds contamination,’” explained Warriner, comparing the process to a large family on bath night, where the last person to bathe will end up dirtier than when they started.
In parallel with this research, he was working on a drink carton disinfection process using hydrogen peroxide and UV. When he came to Canada in 2002, he looked at if the process could also apply to fresh produce.
An initial project was carried out with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Back then, he was hoping that he could take this technology to industry but nothing came of it.
“So basically, like a lot of research, you put it in the journals on the shelf and move on to the next thing,” said Warriner
Jumping forward ten years, a listeria outbreak linked to candy apples produced in California threatened to shut down this industry. Following many issues involving these affected apples, every North American candy apple was taken off the shelf, including those made by Canadian company Moyer’s Apples, whose owner Paul Moyer had appeared on Dragon’s Den.
“Paul said it rightly. He was watching CNN close to Christmastime and saw one of his apples being taken off his shelf, even though they were not implicated in the outbreak. Retailers got spooked about every candy apple, so business was crashing, and he had to come up with something.”
That is where this decade-old project came into play when Warriner got a note from the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. At the time, one of the coordinators wanted him to meet Moyer about the problem.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s just going to be a project. And he’s said ‘I need something to decontaminate apples and make the candy apples so retailers will retake them and say mine are safe,’” said Warriner.
Moyer spoke about different ways to decontaminate apples, including washing, UV, and ozone processes. That’s when Warriner brought up his project from a decade earlier.
“I said, ‘Look, I’ve got a process which I developed back in 2006 based on UV and hydrogen peroxide, which makes these, what we call hydroxy radicals, really antimicrobial.’ But the thing is, they don’t leave residues, they decontaminate them.”
Moyer liked what he heard and decided they should do a trial. The technology worked. The two also added ozone to the process, which Warriner said was another source of the active hydroxyl radicals.
“In less than 30 seconds, the technology kills 99.99 per cent of food pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella, norovirus and more. It can decontaminate 100,000 pounds of produce per hour. It does not use water; it is sustainable,” said Warriner.
Unlike other solutions like chemical washing, pesticides or electrolyzed water, this new process leaves no unwanted toxins behind.
Warriner thought that after they had solved the issue and the project’s success, the case would be closed and that it would be on to the next project. However, Moyer and his investors wanted to commercialize the new technology, founding Clean Works in 2017.
“Canada went from being an importer of candy apples to an exporter, solely through Moyers Apples and the U of G technology,” says Denise VanderVeen, director of business development in Clean Works Technology, in a release.
Since then, the company has expanded beyond apples, including fresh produce, fruit, frozen vegetables, eggs and meat.
One of the challenges that Clean Works and Warriner have faced is getting people to buy into the new technology.
“No one wants to be at that meeting and say, ‘I think we should use hydroxyl radicals,’ because it means they have to change how they think.”
Warriner’s lab at the university has almost become a sort of training funnel for the Clean Works R&D department. Many students are moving to jobs at Clean Works or in the industry and bringing their knowledge of the new technology with them.
“So, when they go into industry, they’re so much more aware of this new technology that it’s easier for them to adopt it,” said Warriner.
“It’s that generational thing that the next generation will be much more familiar with it.”
It has also been used for non-food-related products, and in 2020, during the pandemic, they looked at whether their technology could be used in the medical field, said VanderVeen.
“The federal and provincial governments tapped us to see if our units could effectively decontaminate PPE against COVID-19 and other viruses and pathogens,” noted VanderVeen.
Warriner’s work with partners at McMaster University enabled Health Canada to get approval to use the technology to reprocess N95 masks. They were able to sanitize up to 800 masks an hour.
With this technology being relatively new, there are so many more places that it could go, and Warriner and VanderVeen are expanding and improving the technology.
“What we see in the future is expanding, keep improving the technology, and I’ve always had [in mind] distribution of a domestic unit where people could disinfect anything in the house, from shoes to baby toys to anything, even the disinfection of fresh produce from the supermarket,” said Warriner.
“I’ve even heard people say to use it to deodorize hockey equipment. So why not?”
He added that there has been talk that the technology might combat avian influenza by using it as a barn cleaner and even disinfecting the air.
One thing that both Warriner and VanderVeen agreed on is making this technology commonplace in many different industries.
“I think it’s exciting that we have seen what hydroxyl radicals can do – maybe avian influenza, maybe we can look at more plant viruses. The options are endless. It can sometimes be difficult to stay focused, but seeing the expansion and acceptance of cleaner, better technologies is where I want to go,” said VanderVeen.
