Tag Archives: Food Processing

Things You Didn’t Know You Needed to Know About Lint-Free Wipes

A recent search on Google for the term lint-free wipe returned over 18 million results. A further refinement to “lint-free wipes” returned over 330,000 results. And another search for “lint free wiper” produced over 1.5 million results. A simple change in characters or adding a letter churned out different results. The one thing they have [Read More…]

Nootropics and the Testing of Cognitive Biohackers

nootropic cognitive brain

Back in 2011, a ‘wild card’ movie based on The Dark Fields, a science fiction novel by Alan Glynn, hit the box office to unexpected success. Grossing more than $160 million on a slender $27 million budget and starring Hollywood icons Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper, the narrative follows writer Eddie Morra as he [Read More…]

What is a Cosmeceutical? Can Chocolate Really Prevent Skin Aging?

Chocolate pieces

Sometimes it is tempting to think that the science of the cleanroom is all about lunar landings and semi-conductors. But the reality is that the spectrum of research conducted in contamination-controlled environments is much broader and cannot be confined to the traditional silos of heavy engineering or silicon-wafer technology. Take, for example, the innovations around [Read More…]

Update: Kicking Back with Kratom – and Salmonella?

Leaf with pills

When Berkshire wrote Kicking Back with Kratom and Salmonella our main focus was clearly salmonella poisoning. “As of March 18, 2018, more than fifty cases of salmonella have been identified  by the CDC across 27 states with patients ranging in age from 67 down to just 6 years old. Sixty percent of the affected were male [Read More…]

Disinfection of Cleanroom Surfaces With Hydrogen Peroxide

Disinfection of Surfaces with Hydrogen Peroxide

Disinfection of Surfaces with Hydrogen Peroxide Of all the contamination control activities in a cleanroom, perhaps the most critical are disinfection procedures. That’s because human health depends on the quality and thoroughness of a surface disinfection wipedown. Many solutions can be considered for surface disinfection, but hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite (bleach) rate special attention. [Read More…]

Kicking Back with Kratom – and Salmonella?

Mitragyna speciosa leaf on white background

In his frequently hilarious and always engaging 2006 travelogue, Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu, memoirist J. Maarten Troost describes his multi-year sojourn in a culture that kicks back after a long day’s spear fishing in the Pacific island sun with a rather unique herbal beverage. Think of [Read More…]

How Contaminated Cosmetics Are No Superficial Problem

collection of different cosmetics

Throughout human history, we have maintained a conflicted relationship with our bodies. We don’t just mean the struggle to lose a pound or two, or the issues some of us face with physical dysfunction. It goes so much further than that, as news headlines frequently remind us. But there’s a way in which our bodily [Read More…]

Cleanroom Beer – How High-Tech is Ensuring the Safety of the World’s Oldest Tipple

Four glasses with different beers.

As a species, we sure like to make simple things complicated. We live at warp speed and chase inherited dreams, and then we wonder why the stress we’ve created have us reaching for pharmaceuticals, therapists, gurus, and other self-comforting tools and vices to carry us from day to day. In our fast-paced, multi-tasking, always-on 21st [Read More…]

How does Vertical Farming and the IoT Intersect in the Cleanroom?

Vertical Hydroponic Farm

Here at Berkshire, we love solving riddles. So here’s one that had us scratching our heads as we searched for an answer: What do floppy discs and salads have in common? It’s ok, we’ll wait while you ponder. Give up? Cleanrooms! Wait, how can lettuces have anything to do with cleanrooms? We’re glad you asked [Read More…]

Clean Meat : Can a Flesh-Based Product Ever Be Considered Contamination-Free?

Food contamination. Food insecurity. GMOs. Frankenfoods. Synthetic products. What’s next to find its way onto our dinner plates? Could it be ‘cultured meat,’ a product that’s disrupting the conventional paradigm of animal agriculture? From Maastricht to Silicon Valley, ‘clean meat’ is the next Big Idea, but what is it and why do we need it? [Read More…]