Palm | Kelapa Sawit

The use of ozone in the processing of foods has recently come to the forefront as a result of the recent approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving the use of ozone as an anti-microbial agent for food treatment, storage and processing. The FDA approval marks a watershed event for the food industry. Prior to the approval, FDA had approved ozone for use only as a disinfection mechanism for bottled water production and the sterilization of bottled water lines. The recent regulatory breakthrough is a result of efforts made by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the panel of technical experts assembled to review and evaluate the efficacy and safety of ozone in food processing.

It is worthy of noting that, the use of ozone in food processing has been allowed and accepted in Japan, Australia, France and other countries for some time. There is a plethora of documentation and supporting literature attesting to the benefits of ozonation as a food product sterilization methodology some of which will be reviewed herein. 

The FDA’s recent approval serves to provide the basis for expanded use of ozone in food processing with application ranging from produce washing to recycling of poultry wash water to seafood sterilization. A sampling of these applications will be presented in the attached case studies.