Food sanitizer (Fallout 3)

The food sanitizer is a miscellaneous item in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.

Fallout 3
The food sanitizer in Fallout 3 has a passive effect on the player as long as it is in the player's inventory. While in the player's inventory, the food sanitizer will increase the HP value of food by 20%. The food sanitizer has no effect on the radiation rating of the food.

It is awarded after finding medicine in the Super Duper Mart as part of the The Wasteland Survival Guide quest, given by Moira Brown, along with the note sanitizer instructions. According to the in-game dialogue, it will cleanse most food in the inventory of harmful bacteria, allowing greater nutritional gain.

The food sanitizer is temporarily removed when you enter Tranquility Lane in Vault 112, when you are captured by Colonel Autumn, when you enter the Operation: Anchorage Simulator located in the Outcast Outpost, when you enter The Pitt, and when you are abducted by aliens on Mothership Zeta, along with all other non-quest items.

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.