Hey Pete, this research is happening in your back yard!

Honey at front of food safety battle

Amanda Garris, Cornell University  Oct. 18, 2011 9:21am

Randy Worobo, associate professor of food microbiology at the New York State
Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, and his lab members tested more
than 2,000 strains of bacteria from eight types of honey from the United
States and New Zealand. One of them stood out.

Honey has been used as a topical antibiotic since the Egyptians wrote
papyrus prescriptions. Now, a Cornell food scientist has identified an
antimicrobial compound in a honey that makes it a promising candidate as a
natural preservative to prevent food-borne illness and food spoilage.

"In sunflower honey from South Dakota, we identified a strain of Bacillus
thuringiensis the biological control known to organic gardeners as 'Bt' —
which was effective against common food-borne pathogens including Listeria
monocytogenes, the bacteria behind the recent deadly cantaloupe outbreak,"
said Worobo. "This Bt strain was intriguing, because it had both strong
antibacterial and strong antifungal activity."--

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Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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