Food sanitizer (Fallout 3)

The food sanitizer is a miscellaneous item in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. It was produced by Abraxodyne Chemical.

Fallout 3
The food sanitizer in Fallout 3 has a passive effect on the user's food items as long as it is in their inventory. While in the inventory, the food sanitizer will increase the HP value restored by most consumables by 20%.

Equation: Initial HP x 1.2 (or 120%) = final amount of HP

Example: Nuka-Cola 10 HP x 1.2 = 12 HP

The food sanitizer has no effect on other types of consumables, and will not reduce any adverse effects, such as the food's radiation rating. Furthermore, it has no effect on purified water, the alien food found on Mothership Zeta, and the slop dished out in the Pitt (maybe because the latter is not regarded as food, or is past all sanitizing), but it does work on the Punga fruit from the Point Lookout add-on.

It is awarded after finding medicine in the Super-Duper Mart as part of the Wasteland Survival Guide quest, along with the sanitizer instructions. According to the sanitizer instructions, it will cleanse most food and drink in the user's inventory of harmful bacteria, allowing greater nutritional gain. It should be noted however that choosing to lie and retain gathered medical supplies will result in the loss of the sanitizer as the player-character retains all gathered medical supplies gained at the Super-Duper mart. It is advised not to lie at this early stage as the benefits outweigh the short-term gains in consumables.

The food sanitizer is not a quest item, and as such will be temporarily removed from the inventory in certain situations.

Fallout: New Vegas
While food sanitizers can be found in Fallout: New Vegas (prior to Patch 1.2.0.31x), they do not have as wide-sweeping an effect as in Fallout 3. The food sanitizer only affects two food items found in the game: junk food and bubblegum. In each case it adds a single point of health restoration when the item is used. Other than this minor effect, food sanitizers serve no real function and may be best sold for profit rather than kept.

Locations
Prior to patch 1.2.0.31x, five food sanitizers could be found in the basement of the REPCONN test site. Four were found on the table in the room marked with "Food" signs, with the fifth found at the bottom of the stairs leading to the lower floor of the basement. The release of patch 1.2.0.31x removed all instances of the item.