Everyone has had experience with mould at one time or another. You have probably gone food shopping, brought your vegetables home, put them into the refrigerator, and brought them back out again a few days later to use for cooking just to find - mould! How was that disgusting fungus able to spread when the refrigerator is designed to keep food fresh? The answer is simple - mould thrives even at temperatures below freezing. The refrigerator - where the temperature is cooled to between 2°C and 8°C – provides no threat to mould. If mould starts to form on food, the only place for it is the rubbish bin, especially because the toxins are some of the most hazardous substances in the world.
Traditional methods, such as salting, reduce mould formation but also change the taste of food. Some food manufacturers use strong chemical substances. However, many consumers do not want their food to contain fungicides or conservatives. This is where UV lighting could help. Tests have shown that mould spreads much more slowly under exposure to UV lighting in the wavelength range from 220 nm to 340 nm. The exposure also destroys some of the dangerous toxins.1 There is also the well-known antibacterial effect - even the much-feared salmonella bacteria cannot withstand ultraviolet waves.
Many refrigerator manufacturers now offer models with UV lighting, but you also have to be careful with certain beverages. Some components in beer, wine, and milk change under the influence of UV light. This results in the well known “light taste” that makes these beverages less enjoyable. These beverages should be stored in a UV refrigerator in a way that protects them from the light. Standard brown and green bottles for wine and beer are sufficient to block UV lighting.
Scientists have found the blue light also to be effective in mould control so perhaps there is competition for UV light sources!
Questions on UV-LEDs?
1 www.heise-gruppe.de/presse/Technology-Review-ueber-UV-LEDs-im-Kuehlschrank-1897555.html
