SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - How about a nice glass of Chardonnay to go with that sponge when cleaning the kitchen?
If food scientist Mark Daeschel is successful, you may soon find wine-based disinfectants on grocery store shelves.
Looking to build on previous anti-microbial research and anecdotal evidence, Daeschel decided to take a hard, scientific look at a centuries-old piece of advice: drinking wine with a meal helped some people avoid food poisoning.
Daeschel, a professor of food science and technology at Oregon State University in Corvalis, about 75 miles (120 km) south of Portland, found that wine, particularly white wine, kills E. coli, salmonella and other potentially deadly bacteria.
"From there, we came up with the idea of a wine-based disinfectant," Daeschel said. "There's a lot of wine out there in the world that doesn't have a home for one reason or another."
He found that the combination of white wine's high levels of malic and tartaric acids with the alcohol content attacks and kills the germs.
Oregon State has attorneys preparing a patent application for the formula once it's completed, Daeschel said. And some wineries that have gotten wind of his research are interested in licensing it as a way to get rid of their excess vin ordinaire, he said.
Daeschel said he's tweaking the formula to get the best germ-killing results and making sure it doesn't leave a sticky residue on counters or a foul odour.
Beyond an alternative to chlorine-or iodine-based disinfectants in the kitchen, the formula could also be used in other food-related areas, such as in meat processing operations to sanitise the carcasses of cattle, chickens and pigs.
So what do Daeschel and his students do with all that wine when they're done with it in the laboratory? "When the mothers ask that, we say it goes down the drain," Daeschel said.
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Great! Now between FR and drinking wine while cleaning, I'll never get anything done.
Wow, that's the truth. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the store for some, er, um, cleaning supplies. Yeah, that's it, cleaning supplies. Something with a nice bouquet and lingering finish, and I don't mean Pine-Sol.