Ultraviolet irradiation of food handling instruments

A food handling instrument ultraviolet illuminator, comprising:

• a housing having a plurality of receptacles each configured to receive one or more food handling instruments;
• a plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources located within each of the plurality of receptacles to direct ultraviolet light towards any food handling instruments placed within the receptacles, wherein the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources direct the ultraviolet light to multiple surfaces of the food handling instruments including front and back surfaces of the food handling instruments, wherein at least one of the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources is an ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light emitting source configured to irradiate the surfaces of the food handling instruments with a peak wavelength in an ultraviolet-C (UV-C) disinfection range of 230 nm to 280 nm, and wherein at least one of the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources is a blue ultraviolet light emitting source configured to irradiate the surfaces of the food handling instruments with a peak wavelength in a blue ultraviolet light wavelength ranging from 360 nm to 460 nm;
• one or more sensors located about the plurality of receptacles to detect operational conditions associated with the plurality of receptacles and any food handling instruments received therein;
• and
• a control unit, operatively coupled to the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources and the one or more sensors, wherein the control unit is configured to manage the irradiation of any food handling instruments in the receptacles with the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources as a function of the operational conditions detected by the one or more sensors, wherein the control unit is configured to activate the UV-C light emitting source and the blue ultraviolet light emitting source to perform a disinfection operation on a food handling instrument in response to determining a contamination condition based on operational conditions detected by the one or more sensors, wherein the control unit is configured to direct the blue ultraviolet light emitting source to continuously irradiate the food handling instrument with blue ultraviolet light in the peak blue ultraviolet light wavelength for a predetermined prolonged period of time to inhibit biological growth and direct the UV-C light emitting source to irradiate the food handling instrument with UV-C light in the peak UV-C wavelength in a pulsed regime to reduce biological activity below a target level.

A food handling instrument ultraviolet illuminator, comprising:

• a housing having a plurality of compartments each configured to receive one or more food handling instruments that vary by at least one of size, shape or function, wherein the compartments vary by at least one of size, shape, or depth within the housing;
• a plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources located within each of the plurality of compartments to direct ultraviolet light towards any food handling instruments placed in the compartments, wherein at least one of the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources is an ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light emitting source configured to irradiate the surfaces of the food handling instruments with a peak wavelength in an ultraviolet-C (UV-C) disinfection of 230 nm to 280 nm;
• one or more sensors located about the plurality of compartments to detect contamination levels on any food handling instruments received therein, wherein the one or more sensors comprises a fluorescent sensor and a visible camera located about each of the plurality of compartments, wherein the fluorescent sensor is configured to detect fluorescent illumination intensity excited from a surface of the food handling instruments after being irradiated by the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources, and the visible camera is configured to obtain images of the fluorescent response generated from the surface of the food handling instruments;
• a control unit, operatively coupled to the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources and the one or more sensors, wherein the control unit is configured to direct the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources to irradiate surfaces of any food handling instruments deemed to have a presence of contamination, wherein the control unit is configured to determine that there is a presence of contamination by comparing images of the fluorescent response obtained by the visible camera over different times, and wherein the control unit is configured to monitor the irradiation of the food handling instruments with the visible camera and adjust irradiation parameters of any of the ultraviolet light emitting sources as a function of the fluorescent response detected by the visible camera;
• and
• a user input/output component configured to facilitate user interaction with the control unit to control the irradiation of the food handling instruments by the plurality of ultraviolet light emitting sources.