Conventional vs organic produce water rinse
Hello all,
We currently rinse our organic product with a final water rinse, it has come up to my attention that conventional product (non-organic) also needs to have a final water rinse.
Has anyone heard about this or currently doing a water rinse to non-organic product?
Thank you!
Water is used to move produce as well as decontaminate in some processes. Your description of "a final water rinse" implies something else is being done -- a little more context might help.
Hi GM, yes water is also used in our process to wash and decontaminate produce. Then after the product has been washed, only the organic product goes through a final rinse step (with only water). On the other hand, the conventional product only goes through the washer to be washed but no extra rinse (with only water) is done to it.
I hope this provides more info
Is your washer washing the produce with anything other than plain water? I can see your final rinse is water, but what about the washing that happens before that (Chlorine? Ozone? etc.)?
Yes, the washer contains chlorine and the second rinse is only water.
Here is some information from the CFR:
https://www.accessda....cfm?fr=173.315
Specifically, see a5©, which states "The use of the chemicals listed under paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(4) is followed by rinsing with potable water to remove, to the extent possible, residues of the chemicals." Note that chlorine is listed under (a)(2).
So yes, it appears that even conventional produce would need to be followed by a potable water rinse if washed with a chlorine solution.
Hold the phone--I have to disagree
You would ONLY need a potable water rinse on the produce if the concentration of chlorine is above the manufacturer's recommendations i.e. if they say no rinse required at 150 ppm or less and you use 75 ppm then you do not need a regular rinse on conventional produce
the reason it's required for the organic veg is that chlorine at any level is not allowed to be detected on the final product (and quite frankly I'm surprised your organic CB is allowing it's use at all)
Sodium hypochlorite May be used in the washing or to assist in the lye peeling of fruits and vegetables.
"© The use of the chemicals listed under paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(4) is followed by rinsing with potable water to remove, to the extent possible, residues of the chemicals."
Item C above would not apply if you are adding a small amount to the rinse water as it is referring to higher concentrations.
https://hgic.clemson...o sanitize food.
https://ag.umass.edu...rs-chlorine-paa
https://inspection.c...0/1524255855736
Now I'm also confused! :helpplease: Scampi, in some of your links the information therein also states that chlorine washing should be followed by a potable water rinse (Clemson link, table after conclusion section). However, the Ohio State link does have a section stating that final rinse water should contain a low ppm (2-7ppm) of chlorine to prevent re-contamination of the water. It seems contradictory that washing should be followed by a "potable water rinse" (<4ppm chlorine per EPA) in some sources, while others say a chlorine concentration up to 7ppm (ohio link) is beneficial. Although, I'm not sure if these sources are referring to chlorine in general, or to a proprietary chlorine sanitizer. Am I missing something here?
At the end of the day though I think you're right that the manufacturer likely already has a procedure in place that the OP can follow to ensure they're doing what they're supposed to.
Brothbro----I understand the confusion
This is the statement that is most important
When selecting a sanitizer that works best for your operations, make sure that the sanitizer is registered with EPA, is approved for direct use on fresh produce, and make sure you follow the label instructions for application. The label provides important information about allowable uses, efficacy against specific organisms, concentrations for use, rates of application, time of application, and need for drying or rinsing depending on the application
What you need to separate from the articles is WASHING vs RINSING as the allowable concentrations are different, and as a result, so is the requirement to potable water rinse without chemical
Ah very good! Thanks for clearing this one up Scampi!
Hi Scampi,
So you are saying that we would only need to add the potable water rinse IF we are adding a high concentration of chlorine to our rinse water or wash water?
And, if we are not adding to much chlorine and levels are okay then we will not need to add a potable water rinse step correct?