Research Uses Spice to Make Seafood Safer
The Sunday Times (San Ramon Valley Times)
August 6, 2000
(AP)
Amherst, Mass -

Reseachers at the University of Massachusetts are looking into ways to use agents found in such common spices as oregano and cloves to kill disease-carrying bacteria in fish and shellfish.

Though spices have been used for hundreds of years to preserve foods, modern science has been able to isolate, extract and concentrate the specific bacteria-killing agents within the spices.

Agents extracted from ginger, cloves and oregano are among those researchers are investigating for use against two bacteria found on raw seafood - Vibrio vulnificus and Listeria monocytogenes - both of which can cause potentially deadly diseases.

The agents do not affect the taste of the seafood - at least in lab studies, said microbiologist Robert Levin.

The research project, which is being funded with a $238,000 grant from the Department of Agriculture, will also look at the number and types of bacteria found on fish and shellfish as they come into processing plants and the development of new safety standards for raw seafood.