Currently used methods for decontamination and sanitation of fresh/fresh‐cut food as well as food processing surfaces are antimicrobial ineffective, generate high costs with a high consumption of water, and chemicals additionally. As an alternative, non‐thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure could be a versatile tool. Therefore, an experimental set‐up based on a microwave‐plasma source which generates plasma processed air (PPA) containing manifold RNS‐based chemical and antimicrobial compounds is used. The PPA is introduced into a reaction chamber for the decontamination of packaging material and fresh produce. This is a new and innovative method for the generation of antimicrobial active air used for dry sanitation. In our experiments, PET stripes, fresh‐cut lettuce, and fresh sprouts are contaminated with six different bacteria; Escherichia coli K12 (DSM 11250), Pseudomonas fluorescens (DSM 50090), Pseudomonas fluorescens (RIPAC), Pseudomonas marginalis (DSM 13124), Pectobacterium carotovorum (DSM 30168), and Listeria innocua (DSM 20649) in a concentration of 108 cfu ml−1 and subsequently treated with PPA. For PPA production, the plasma is ignited for 5, 15, or 50 s. After a post‐plasma treatment with PPA of maximum 5 min, decreases of bacterial load up to 6 log10 cfu ml−1 are detected for P. fluorescens (both strains) and P. carotovorum on PET. On plant tissue only once a reduction higher than 5 log10 cfu ml−1 is gained (P. carotovorum on sprouts). For all other bacteria and specimen, the inactivation rate is less. The characteristics of plasma and its generated cocktail of long living chemical compounds in air leading to a high bacterial inactivation and offering a wide range of possible applications.