Finland-based Spectral Blue is presenting a new way of sanitizing surfaces inside seafood-processing facilities at the 2026 Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global, running from 21 through 23 April in Barcelona, Spain.
Spectral Blue has created a patented multi-wavelength high-intensity (MWHI) antimicrobial blue light that the company said is designed to keep processing environments sanitized in a non-chemical way. The technology can run continuously, helping prevent the buildup of microbes like Listeria monocytogenes inside facilities.
“We are a small company, and we have been developing these antimicrobial blue light devices since 2016,” Karin Henricson, global sales director for Spectral Blue, told SeafoodSource.
Henricson, along with Spectral Blue Customer Experience Manager Virpi Sorri, said the research on blue light’s ability to sanitize surfaces has been proven for multiple decades in academic research. However, it was only recently that the technology was available to create a commercial product, and the company is showcasing its seafood processing applications at Seafood Processing Global for the first time.
Henricson and Sorri said it was the invention of the blue LED light – which won a Nobel prize for physics in 2014 – that unlocked the ability for companies like Spectral Blue to develop ways to use the lights as a means of industrial sanitation.
The company’s patented process uses multiple different wavelengths of light to sanitize a surface, which recent scientific research has shown to increase the effectiveness in preventing microbial buildup.
“There are studies showing that it’s a five- to tenfold effect compared to if you have a single wavelength,” Sorri said.
Spectral Blue also reviews the processing space of each customer to tailor its blue light solutions to their needs to ensure maximum effectiveness of the system.
One of the benefits of its MWHI blue light is preventing biofilms from forming on surfaces, which can keep listeria from forming during a day of processing. As opposed to traditional sanitation processes using chemicals that disinfect equipment at the start of the day, Spectral Blue’s process can run the entire time to keep surfaces clean.
Henricson and Sorri said the technology can also be used at the final stage of processing, when a product is being packaged. The MWHI blue lights can be used to sanitize the packaging to ensure outside contamination is not introduced at the final stage.
Sorri said Spectral Blue is one of the first companies to introduce blue lights as a means of sanitizing in food processing but added there will likely be more companies emerging as the technology grows.
Spectral Blue said as regulations tighten and the cost of contamination incidents continue to increase, solutions like their MWHI blue lights can help support the industry and avoid costly recalls.
