After fresh produce is harvested, it is treated and processed, dried and chilled as quickly as possible. FDA-approved GMP chemicals, like bleach, peracetic acid, and hydrogen peroxide, are applied during this phase. You obviously can’t spray them once packaged.
Here are 5 facts:
- The chemicals do their best to eliminate pathogens, but there is only so much you can do before you start adversely affecting the produce. You can’t kill 100%. Even 90% is impressive.
- Microorganisms remain hidden in crevices. Most will cause spoilage, and a few are pathogenic.
- Chemicals only have a short residual effect, lasting at most a couple of days.
- Most fresh produce is packaged with exposure to the air, to minimize moisture build up and to release ethylene to prevent ripening. Exposed, inevitably means new microbes are regularly introduced.
- The average time from farm to fork is estimated to be 4 weeks.
This early disinfection phase is only partially effective, and never happens again.
If refrigeration is the only thing protecting fresh produce for the remainder of its 4 weeks, then what’s killing any remaining or newly introduce microbes? Cold storage is one of the greatest inventions for food preservation, but it only slows down growth, it doesn’t kill.
EPIC iO has patented a high-tech answer that revolutionizes the refrigerator, and it’s the size of a briefcase that only needs a power outlet and is chemical-free and FDA-approved. It uses a combination of super-low concentrations of pulsed ozone over several hours, and high intensity UVC irradiation. The device ensures the cold-storage room is unoccupied, then delivers a low-and-slow level of ozone with incredible precision using AI and IoT. The highly reactive ozone molecules circulate the room and inactivate microorganisms by oxidizing their cell membranes. Importantly, the concentration is low enough it does not harm the product. This cycle is typically scheduled to run at night when the walk-in cold storage room is not in use.
This means every night, the device is actively killing residual and freshly introduced bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Both pathogenic and spoilage related.
In parallel another device is purifying airborne microbes using intense UVC irradiation. The device, which also resides inside the room, simply sucks in air at up to 300 cubic feet per minute, irradiates it safely within a stainless-steel enclosure, and emits the decontaminated air.
An additional benefit of both ozone and UVC light is that they are natural destroyers of ethylene gas, reducing the rate of ripening.
The solution is transformative to food safety and quality in five ways:
- It uses FDA-approved chemical-free technology and the only residue is pure oxygen.
- It actively destroys and inhibits pathogens and food spoilage microorganisms.
- It doesn’t alter the taste, color, texture, nor nutritional properties of the product.
- It simply sits inside the cold storage room, automatically scheduled to run when the room is not in use, logging activity for compliance reports.
- It constantly scrubs ethylene to slow ripening and spoilage.
To discuss how we can transform your walk-in cold storage without any modifications, contact us at epicio.com.
