BASIL, one of the mainstays of Italian cuisine, might one day become a weapon in the battle against dangerous food bugs such as E. coli and listeria. A new plastic food wrapper for meat and cheese which slowly oozes anti-microbial chemicals extracted from the herb has been shown to increase the food’s shelf life, and should also cut the risk of food poisoning. And it doesn’t taint the food with basil flavour, either.
Preliminary tests on the new wrapping show it keeps bacteria at bay in Cheddar cheese for a week longer than ordinary packaging. The finding was announced last…
