New technology attacks bad germs

SACRAMENTO — Bright packaging, straight, even rows, the produce display
could have doubled for a backdrop in a wax museum. Hours later nausea,
vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea prompts the declaration: “It must
have been something I ate!”

With the ever-increasing demand for year-round produce favorites, a wide
range of countries are freely exporting their seasonal bounty to the United
States. As dedicated as the federal government is in pursuing a
standardized method of ensuring food safety, not all countries have the
same standards of hygiene and sanitation regarding their products. People
are getting sick, yet the demand remains high for exotic fruits,
temperamental vegetables and a plethora of international edible plants.

Better than slow and difficult international conferences and near-empty
produce bins in the dead of winter, comes a new high-tech method to
literally knock foreign and domestic microorganisms off their roost.

Spectrum Environmental Technologies, Inc. of Sacramento, California, has
developed an amazingly simple, yet highly effective sterilization
technology to combat the spread of dangerous bacteria, viruses and other
dreaded invaders from a variety of surfaces and air. Passing fruits and
vegetables through Spectrum’s space-age process, one local supermarket
chain can hardly wait to be the first in the nation to utilize this
cutting-edge breakthrough.

How does it work? Within an enclosed saturation chamber, Spectrum’s
proprietary “micro-clean” sterilization process simultaneously uses
ultraviolet light waves and ultrasonic sound energy — in harmony — to
instantly produce contaminant-free surfaces. Obliterating pathogens is a
two-fold process: sound generates an excited surface, while the light
energy is like an old West six-shooter nailing varmints as they are forced
to “dance.”

Vincent Rose, the founder of Spectrum Technologies says the company was
originally formed as a consulting firm to provide expertise in chemical and
biological decontamination and sterilization services. Several high-profile
projects enabled the company to gain national recognition in its proven
ability to address contamination removal efforts.

As one of several industry experts providing consultation to the U.S.
State Department, Spectrum was called upon to assist in providing
neutralization techniques for biological weapons manufacturing plants in
the former Soviet Union. Hewlett-Packard approached Spectrum in 1995
seeking a method to sterilize exterior surfaces of numerous types of
electronic medical equipment. With HP’s worldwide product distribution,
Spectrum Technology was a perfect fit to sterilize the expensive, highly
sensitive and sophisticated equipment used daily on a global basis. Various
facilities from around the world returned equipment to HP’s Lincoln,
California site where Spectrum’s proprietary technology and expertise
continued to successfully accomplish the task. Independent testing agencies
validated the technology’s effectiveness and, in January of 1998,
Hewlett-Packard completed construction of a permanent, state-of-the-art
facility for Spectrum to occupy.

Rose centers his company’s focus in three main arenas: high technology,
health care and food. “Most importantly we are a company that believes in
our people, our technology and a solution to a global problem … to those
of us who are able to read between the lines: The solution has nothing to
do with our technology. …” Mr. Rose calls it simply a tool.

“It’s not what you get; it’s what you give,” he says, referring to the
local, regional, national and potential global impact of his products.

Stressing the independent testing and validation through an exhaustive
two-year clinical study, the company has “cleaned” in excess of $500
million worth of items. Without heat, steam, chemicals or disinfectants,
Spectrum’s proprietary “micro-clean” trademark technology may become a new
term for future industry standards rather than a company documented
reference.

What are additional, potential applications for this process? The list
is legion: aircraft cabin-air, day-care facilities, retirement homes,
home-use, portable units, military field operations, washrooms, elementary
schools, dental offices, butcher shops, restaurants, etc.

Apart from Rose’s technical expertise and focused determination remains
a genuine and palpable concern for people. He humbly accepts his company’s
success and refers to himself as a tool or an ambassador for a higher good.

The power of “light” and “sound” — frequently mentioned in his
brochures — seems more often reflected in his enlightened gaze and calm,
even-tempered delivery of highly technical facts and the divine gift the
world is about to receive.

For more information about Spectrum’s technology, go to:
http://www.microclean-technology.com.