The following research program was conceptualized to analyze and demonstrate a number of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies designed to address improvement of productivity, reduction the use of toxic chemicals, energy consumption, and water usage.

Specifically, this program sought to demonstrate the use of ozone technologies in several different areas. The following projects and their outcomes are discussed here:

Ozone in Soil Fumigation:

Objective

• The effectiveness of ozone as a preplant soil fumigant to destroy a variety of soil-borne microorganisms

Outcomes

• Ozone treatment demonstrated substantial improvements and crop yield or plant vigor compared to untreated controls, in all crops tested except peaches
• Soil treatment with ozone decreased soil pathogens and increased nutrient availability.

Ozone as an Aqueous Disinfectant:

Objective

• The effectiveness of ozone as a disinfectant and fungicide in aqueous solutions used for fruit storage and packaging operations and ozone treatment for discharge water quality purposes.

Outcomes

• From 95 to 100 percent of all eight fungi tested were killed in 2 minutes of contact time with the ozone treatment. None survived 3 minutes of contact
• Ozone effectiveness in water to kill spores of Penicillium digitatum was not influenced by pH and could not be predicted by a dose and time relationship
• High doses of ozone were required to kill pathogens on fruit surfaces than those needed to kill spores in water
• Ozone significantly reduced gray mold incidence on table grapes, but its efficacy was irregular
• Table grapes, citrus fruit, and strawberries were not visibly injured by the ozone treatments evaluated
• In strawberry wash water, ozonation for 3 hours greatly reduced microbe populations, moderately reduced biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and suspended solids, did not reduce total organic carbon, and increased total dissolved solids.

Ozone as a Gas Fumigant:

Objective

• The effectiveness of ozone as a post-harvest fumigant to control insect infestation of fresh and dried fruits and vegetables.

Outcomes

• Four to 6 hours of exposure to ozone concentrations of 300 to 500 parts per million were needed to kill Indianmeal moth larvae and diapausing codling moths
• Chambers designed for ozone funigation will need to be made of materials that can withstand the corrosive action of continuous exposure to high concentrations of ozone.

Alternative Fruit Storage Methods:

Objectives

• Demonstrate the viability and practicality of a low-cost, temperature-controlled storage facility to inhibit insect infestation of stored fruit
• Test the effectiveness of plastic film bin liners to control insect control in stored prunes
• Develop baseline data on Indianmeal moth populations near drying and storage facilities.

Outcomes

• The controlled ventilation/evaporative cooling system was too expensive to install considering it would provide safe storage temperatures for 7 months of the year
• Prune quality was determined to be excellent after 1 year in storage in plastic bags
• Moisture content of the prunes did not change during storage and the fruit was exceptionally free of sugaring and mold compared to fruit stored conventionally
• It appears that bins with liners must be stored in an environment that prevents significant diurnal temperature fluctuations
• Baseline data collected indicated that Indianmeal moth is the species of most concern within prune storage
• The liner storage system will work well only is fruit is virtually free of infestation before being placed in the liners.

Ozone is now approved by the FDA for use in food packaging processing plants often for meat and vegetables (and other foods) for more thorough cleansing of fruits, vegetables, other fresh produce, and fish / meats. Using ozone as a food disinfectant results in a much longer shelf life for most food items.

THE NEW FRESHER APPROACH TO YOUR APPLICATION WITH OZONE

Absolute Ozone® Generators are created to help you to increasing productivity and reducing yield loss. What that means to you is improved profitability. From freezing to chilling to food safety and packaging technologies, Absolute Ozone® Generators will meet your requirements and processing needs.

Better, safer, faster, more cost-effective -- these four goals are more essential than ever to the advancement your business, the quality of your product and the growth of your company. For food and beverage companies, Absolute Ozone® Generators are far more then just ozone generators. We have pioneered major breakthroughs in ozone production technologies, creating even more efficient, reliable, compact and cost effective generators.  The generators which on 24/7 bases assuring safety and freshness of your product.

Our newest offering for the fresh-cut produce processors  MC-series ozone generators for effective disinfection of fruit and vegetables, enabling to achieve high concentration of ozone in water practically without any off-gas. Ozone is a powerful oxidizing agent that is also organic-compliant. It's just one more we could help you to improve your productivity

Fresh taste, fresh look, fresh-cut. The consumer demand for high quality, conveniently packaged produce is on the rise. This is true for both the consumer and foodservice markets. How to get there is the challenge. One way is to dramatically increase the shelf life and product appearance by changing the way you process your fresh-cut produce. The answer is ozone. Ozonated washing and produce disinfection beats traditional methods that leave residual chemicals and impart off flavor notes.

Ozone is the tri-atomic form of oxygen and is a highly effective disinfectant. As an oxidizing agent, ozone is one and a half times more powerful than chlorine and 3000 times more reactive.

A simple system incorporating Absolute Ozone® generators, allows for easy production of ozonated water for washing the product will overall reduce your water consumption, improves mold, and bacteriological kill and minimizes product loss and the best part . . . increases shelf life.

The chemical dip is a thing of the past. The new, fresher approach is with organic-compliant ozone and the support from Absolute Ozone® team  are just a click away.

For specific information on your application and the use of Ozone Generators for your fresh-cut product contact  Absolute Ozone

USEFUL INFORMATION ON MEAT PROCESSING REGULATIONS AND USE OF OZONE

Salmonella and Campylobacter:
Regulations and Strategies
William Benjy Mikel
Food Systems Innovation Center
University of Kentucky
 

HACCP
• The Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) issued the pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems; Final Rule on July 25, 1996

• To verify that industry Pathogen Reduction/HACCP (PR/HACCP) systems are effective in controlling the contamination of raw meat and poultry products with disease causing bacteria, the PR/HACCP rule set Salmonella performance standards.

• Product specific limits on Salmonella became effective in large establishments on January 26, 1998; in small establishments on January 25, 1999; and in very small establishments on January 25, 2000.

• The Salmonella performance standards are based on the prevalence of Salmonella as determined from the agency’s nationwide microbial baseline studies conducted before PR/HACCP was implemented

• Raw products currently covered by performance are carcasses of cows/bulls, steers/heifers, market hogs, and broilers; and ground beef, ground chicken, and ground turkey.

• The performance standards are expressed in terms of the maximum number of Salmonella positive samples that are allowed per sample set.

• The number of samples in a sample set varies by product and the maximum number of positive sample allowed in a set provides an 80% probability of an establishment passing when it is operating at the standard.

• Salmonella rates in all classes of products have decreased to levels well below F.S.I.S’s hazard analysis and critical control point baseline prevalence estimates.

• 2003, 3.8 percent tested positive for Salmonella, as
compared with 4.29 percent in 2002; 5.03 in 2001,
5.31 percent in 2000;7.26 percent in 1999; and 10.65
percent in 1998.

• Broilers – 12.8 percent compared to a standard of 20 percent.
• Market hogs – 2.5 percent compared to a standard of 8.7 percent
• Cows/bulls – 1.5 percent compared to a standard of 2.7 percent
• Steers/heifers – 0.4 percent compared to a standard of 1 percent
• Ground beef – 1.7 percent compared to a standard of 7.5 percent
• Ground chicken – 35.5 percent compared to a standard of 44.6 percent
• Ground turkey – 25.4 percent compared to a standard of 49.9 percent

• The Salmonella prevalence in ground chicken from all sizes of establishments combined increases from 19.5% in CY 2001 to 29.1 in CY 2002.
• This increase was due primarily to an increase in Salmonella prevalence for small establishments from 16.8% in CY 2001 to 31.0% in CY 2002.
• The CY 2002 overall level for ground chicken is still well below the baseline prevalence of 44.6%.
 

• (3) Noncompliance and establishment response. When FSIS determines that an establishment has not met the performance standards:
– (i) The establishment shall take immediate action to
meet the standard.
– (ii) If the establishment fails to meet the standard on the
next series of compliance tests for that product, the establishment shall reassess its HACCP plan for that product.

• (iii) Failure by the establishment to act in accordance with
the paragraph (b) (3) (ii) of this section, or failure to meet
the standard on the third consecutive series of FSIS- conducted tests for that product, constitutes failure to
maintain sanitary conditions and failure to maintain adequate HACCP plan, in accordance with part 417 of this chapter, for that product, and will cause FSIS to suspend inspection services.
• Such suspension will remain in effect until the
establishment submits to the FSIS Administrator or his/her
designee satisfactory written assurance detailing the action
taken to correct the HACCP system and, as appropriate,
other measures taken by the establishment to reduce the
prevalence of pathogens.

Poultry Interventions
• TSP 77%
• ASC 19%
• Pre-op Fog 4%
• pH 4%
• Ozone 4%

 

• Research indicates activated lactoferrin removes more than 99% of harmful bacteria present on the surface of meat. Testing also shows activated lactoferrin inhibits growth of bacteria on sub-primal and whole-muscle, case-ready beef products by more
than 99% when held at room temperature for a 24 hour period.

• The genus Campylobacter consists of about 14 species, and the one of primary importance in foods is C. jejuni subsp.
jejuni.

• Specimens and percent positive for C.jejuni are as follows: chicken intestinal contents (39-83), swine feces (66-87), sheep feces (up to 73), swine intestinal contents (61), sheep carcasses (24), swine carcasses (22), eviscerated chicken (72-80), and eviscerated turkey (94)

• About 12% of fresh meats were positive but only 2.3% of the frozen, suggesting the lethal effects of freezing on the organism
(116). A higher percentage of chicken liers were positive (30% of fresh and 15% of frozen) than any of the other meats, which
included beef, pork, and lamb livers.

• Since the 1980’s, Campylobacter jejuni/coli have been recognized as major caused of foodborne disease. Campylobacters have been associated with human disease through the consumption of contaminated raw milk and undercooked meat. Undercooked poultry products have been associated with the majority of sporadic cases.

• Reports of illness are going up as more states recognize that Campylobacter infections are a public health concern, and as laboratory techniques for culturing and identifying the
bacteria continue to be refined. Campylobacter is the most frequently isolated bacterium from persons with diarrhea (45%), Salmonella is second (30%), Shigella is third (17%), E.coli O157:H7 is forth (5%).

• These organisms were found on 29.7% of chicken samples, 4.2% of pork sausage, 3.6% of ground beef, and about 5.1% of
1800 red meats. Only C.coli was recovered from pork products. A higher incidence was noted in June and September (8.6%) than in December and March (4.5 and 3.9%, respectively)

• Next to Salmonella, Campylobacter remains one of the most important foodborne bacterial pathogens in the United States,
where it is estimate that 2.5 million people suffer annually from campylobacteriosis illness.

• Total mean reductions in Camylobacter carcass rinse populations were log .76 cfu/ml following passage through the
washers and chill tanks not employing TSP or ASC, versus log 1.53 cfu/ml for washer systems employing TSP or ASC.