Mr Yates, who enjoys cooking at home, described the food detective work as the "fun" part of his job, compared to other routine analyses, such as checking the accuracy of nutritional information panels on food products.
That was later explained as a chemical reaction between iron particles on a recently sharpened knife used to cut the fruit and pigments that are naturally present in oranges, known as anthocyanins. The noodle mystery comes after a curious case of orange slices that turned purple on a Brisbane woman's kitchen counter three years ago, which were tested by the same lab. After less than a day, they found that the part of the sensor that was printed with bacteria-sensing bioink turned from blue to reda clear sign that the fish was contaminated. Mr Yates would not speculate how the purple bacteria may have tainted the cooked noodles. The uncooked noodles were also cultured by the microbiology lab for contaminants and, although a range of organisms were found, none produced a purple pigment. When the raw noodles were boiled in sterile water and left in the fridge for a week, no purple was observed. The Brisbane resident who posted the purple sample to the lab for testing also included the remaining uncooked noodles from the same packet. Violacein is produced by several species of bacteria, including Chromobacterium violaceum, which is commonly found in soil and water in tropical and sub-tropical regions.īut exactly how the bacteria contaminated the cooked noodles remains a mystery.įood chemist Hans Yates spent a month analysing the purple noodles to discover the bacteria known as violacein. The disease can be easily transmitted to humans who eat food contaminated by the. Using sophisticated machinery, Mr Yates found the wavelengths of the violacein colour sample, and the pigment found on the noodles, were the same. which occurs due to poor cleaning of machines, dirty floors, and drains. The purple colour found on the noodles did not match any food compounds previously seen by the laboratory.īut when the purple hue of the noodles was tested against reference samples of violacein, a naturally occurring bacterial pigment, it was a match. "Unfortunately, not everything that is pretty is safe for health," Mr Yates warned.įood testing rules out natural and artificial food colours, including dye from squid ink. Senior Queensland Health chemist Hans Yates then spent a month, on and off between other jobs, analysing how the packet of noodles had morphed into a lovely shade of lavender. ( ABC News: Janelle Miles) Noodle testing finds no match with any other compound Many producers faced with faulty food simply want to minimize their losses without harming public health, said Peter Quinter and Jennifer Diaz, lawyers with the Florida firm Becker & Poliakoff, which represents importers of foreign food.Senior chemist Hans Yates says food detective work is the "fun" part of his job. At least 2,240 reports were logged in the registry’s first year, including the salmonella-tainted vegetable protein. This web-page catalogs news reports to highlight the dangers of unsafe ice and recent food safety warnings. But in 2009, the agency started a new Reportable Food Registry, which requires notification of hazards to human health. Ice machine violations are a serious public health concern. “You can’t cook the poop out of it.”įDA officials couldn’t provide an estimate of the number of reconditioning requests received from food firms each year. “If food is adulterated in an unacceptable way, reconditioning won’t fix it,” he said. Heat-treating would have eradicated the bugs - but not the problem, Correll said. He recalled a seafood firm with faulty bathroom practices that led to canned crab contaminated with fecal E. Similarly, companies that propose to eliminate a serious contaminant without addressing the source are turned down.
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