Ozone in the Food Industry
Because ozone is a safe, powerful disinfectant, it can be used to
control biological growth of unwanted organisms in products and equipment used
in the food processing industries. Ozone
is particularly suited to the food industry because of its ability to disinfect
microorganisms without adding chemical by-products to the food being treated, or
to the food processing water or atmosphere in which food are stored.
In aqueous solutions, ozone can be used to disinfect equipment, process
water, and some foodstuff. In
gaseous form, ozone can act as a preservative for certain foods products and can
also sanitize food packaging materials. Some
products currently being preserved with ozone include eggs during cold storage,
fresh fruits and vegetables, and fresh fish.
Until recently, the food processing industry limited its use of ozone
mainly to the treatment of bottle water and wastewater because ozone was not
approved by the FDA for food applications.
Recent actions, however, have cleared away some major barriers to wider
applications of ozone. In 1997,
through efforts of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the FDA granted
ozone with the status of "Generally Recognized As Safe" (GRAS) as a
sanitizer and disinfectant for foods. EPRI
accomplished this following guidelines set forth by the FDA.
The process involved assembling a panel of experts on food, toxicology,
and ozone to evaluate scientific and historic information on the use of ozone in
food processing. The panel affirmed GRAS classification for ozone "as a
sanitizer or disinfectant for foods when used at levels and by methods of
application consistent with Good Manufacturing Practices."
The FDA does not have to reaffirm the GRAS classification, and food
processors now free to use ozone for sanitation or disinfection.
The GRAS classification for ozone was announced with a few months of the
passage of a new Federal law which, for the first time, limits the presence of
E. coli and Salmonella on meat and poultry.
The timing of the GRAS classification is advantageous because ozone is
particularly effective in inactivating these infectious agents.
Food processors and beverages manufacturers consume billions of gallons
of water daily for food handling, washing, processing, and cooking and for
cleaning equipment. All of this
water must be free of contaminants. Even
before ozone received GRAS status, the food and beverage industry had begun to
recognize its potential as a disinfectant and as an alternative to chlorine,
which traditionally has been used to treat food processing water.
This is because ozone eliminates a problem associated with chlorine
disinfection-the potential for the build-up of toxic residues of chlorine and
chlorinated by-products in water that has been treated more than once.
Ozone
is rapidly gaining acceptance as an alternative to chlorine for
disinfection. Why? Because it works! Contact Ozone
Solutions for your needs.
