Sanitizing fresh fruits and vegetables
hello members!
just would like to know -- can anyone recommend a good, organic fruit and vegetable sanitizer? is white vinegar (commercial) an effective sanitizer? what about baking soda?
angie0612
It's been a while since I've worked with produce. If you think about it, you're at the early stages of HACCP, trying to design a process which can work, i.e. you need to find some validation. Your first step I would approach some suppliers and ask what products are available. I'd also have a look at academic papers to see what research has been done.
Off the top of my head, I have known of organic acids being used (including acetic acid) and it does have some benefit. I've only practically used it though (with a rinse step) to be followed by a chlorine wash so I can't guarantee it would work in practice.
Another thing which used to be talked about a lot was simply a lot of turbulent water. Not 100% convinced on that one mind.
One area which might be worth a look though is electrolysed water. This is a bit of a cheat if I'm honest. Basically there are some companies out there who use a brine solution (salt - NaCl in water H2O) and then run a current through it. I think it forms hypochlorous acid in situ (HOCl) which is a very good disinfectant, especially if you've got rid of soiling. You'd have to check with the companies but "officially" you'd just be washing the veg in salt water. Unofficially it's probably not all that dissimilar to using chlorine except it is likely to have far more of the chlorine in a form where it's likely to be effective and much nicer to declare.
Hi angie,
I assume you mean the finished product should be able to be labelled as "Organic".
These are apparently the US options -
http://articles.exte...harvest-systems
(note that referenced sources seem quite old, but not the actual document)
Customised products are certainly US available (and IIRC have been discussed on this Forum) but, as per GMO, the crunch is likely to be regarding what items are available in Cambodia.
You may find the list in the link below helpful. This is from the current USDA National Organic Program standards. There are a number of chemicals that are approved as sanitizers for organic products/production. In the states most people use chlorine, peroxyacetic acid, and/or ozone.
You may find the list in the link below helpful. This is from the current USDA National Organic Program standards. There are a number of chemicals that are approved as sanitizers for organic products/production. In the states most people use chlorine, peroxyacetic acid, and/or ozone.
Hi Ryan,
Thks for above link which I think is the "full" version of link in Post 3.
I deduce that Post3 link attempts to simplify the exhaustive but often intricately worded text of full version. (And what a Maze the latter is ! Bit like the US Food Code.)
Example -
Post3 Link - Ozone is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to chlorine for water disinfection
Original - (5) Ozone gas—for use as an irrigation system cleaner only. [Cleaner?]
The full version also includes some traditionally ambiguous back-covering which Post3 ignores, eg
§205.601 Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production.
In accordance with restrictions specified in this section, the following synthetic substances may be used in organic crop production: Provided, That, use of such substances do not contribute to contamination of crops, soil, or water. Substances allowed by this section, except disinfectants and sanitizers in paragraph (a) and those substances in paragraphs ©, (j), (k), and (l) of this section, may only be used when the provisions set forth in §205.206(a) through (d) prove insufficient to prevent or control the target pest.