McDonald's franchisees in three of the nation's largest cities — Chicago, Dallas and Houston — are using ultraviolet light technology to neutralize pathogens on restaurant surfaces and in the air. Franchise owners have partnered with Grand Haven, Michigan-based, UV Angel to take the added health and safety measure, according to Paul Byrne, UV Angel vice president of product. In total, the company told QSRweb it has installed 345 units of two varieties in the stores in Texas and Illinois.

Under the partnership, the McDonald's locations have been equipped with proprietary ultraviolet light surface and air technology, allowing the fast food restaurants to neutralize bacteria, viruses and fungi around the clock. UV Angel specified that this tech is room-level, which it said acts on pathogens at their sources, where and when they are spread. The systems that use technology like HEPA filter, as well as UV-C HVAC units are building-level source controls.

"While we have already taken significant steps to help ensure the safety of our employees and customers, we believe the addition of UV Angel technology is a true game-changer," Matt Kades, a Houston-area McDonald's owner-operator, said in the release. "We want the air inside our locations to be as safe as the air outside, and we are proud to be one of the first restaurants in the world to add this technology to our infection control arsenal."

The censors are mounted at the ceiling level and continuously draw room air into a sealed chamber, where it is treated with UV-C light to destroy airborne pathogens. This engineering control system operates independent of the HVAC system for automated round-the-clock source-level environmental air treatment, based on systems the company has previously provided in hospitals to control the often deadly hospital-acquired infections.

"As has been published in many studies, people are the main source of contamination and disease transmission," Tom Byrne, UV Angel CEO, said in the release. "The recent pandemic highlights the need to add controls right at the room level and source of potential contamination. …

"While our company started in health care, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of our technologies in many different industries looking to create measurably safer indoor environments for staff, customers, and families."

Paul Byrne told this website in an email this morning that the company works closely with partners, including McDonald's to make the added safety initiatives known to customers through in-store materials, social media advertising and both local and national marketing efforts.

"Some partners are displaying in-store or in-restaurant signage to showcase the effectiveness of UV Angel products, using the findings from independent studies on our UV-C technology. ..." he said in an email this morning.

"We are seeing significant national demand for UV Angel's technology across a wide variety of sectors, hospital systems, schools, restaurants, dentist offices and more.

Copyright © 2021 Networld Media. All rights reserved., source Industry News