Ozone water as fresh produce sanitizer

Hi,

I am currently reviewing the efficacy of ozone water to sanitize fresh produce used in our production. I have back read all ozone topics in the forum already.

We currently use chlorine (<100ppm) to sanitize fruits and vegetables prior to preparation. An experiment was conducted to check the microbial reduction of both chlorine and ozone water as sanitizers for F&V. Results of the experiment showed that there is no significant difference on the microbial reduction as both yielded 99.4 - 99.8% reduction for Coliform, Enterobacteria and APC.

It is not necessary that we change the current procedure, however, if there are more effective, efficient and modern ways, then we're willing to look into it.

While conducting research, there were several positive and negative references about the use of ozone water as sanitizer. For one, FDA already acknowledges its use as methods to reduce / eliminate pathogens from produce and fresh cut produce. But also it listed some limitations such as toxicity to humans and corrosion to equipment, which is also a limitation of chlorine.

Anyone here who's using ozone water to sanitize fresh produce or even sanitize food contact surfaces and equipment? I need some more data and a lots of convincing (?)

By the way, we use fresh produce as part of RTE meals and cooked meals.



Thanks,


Majoy

Hi Majoy,

Twinoxide is the way to go. http://www.twinoxide.com/

You can contact them for more information regarding F&V wash. TwinOxide 3% solution does not contain free chlorine. The active biocidal substance is the chlorine dioxide molecule, at least 10 tiomes more powerful than chlorine and chlorine type disinfectants.

I hope this helps you.

Regards

Ajay

Does OZONE treatment also help in reduction of pesticide content of F&V???

Thanks,
Shayaree