Ozone use for the degradation of aflatoxin in corn has become quite popular recently. There is a-lot of interest into the potential of ozone in this application. There is a great deal of data available that does prove that ozone will destroy aflatoxin.
Aflatoxin is a mycotoxin that is produced by a fungus (aspergillus). In climates where mold may grow on grain while it is growing in the field high levels of aflatoxin on grain may be an issue. Aflatoxin is a pathogen that can cause health issues in both humans and animals. The FDA has established action levels for Aflatxin for human and animal consumption that rage from 20 – 300 ppb.
With the rising prices of corn and other commodities the practical removal of unsafe levels of aflatoxin can be a necessary part of cost effective agriculture.
While there is a fair amount of lab data available, actual real-life data on the use of ozone to remove aflatoxin in corn, is not shared as much as other application. Recently we worked with a customer that did share the following information.
He used a 300 g/hr ozone generator on 6 bushels of corn for 2 hours of time. This reduced the aflatoxin levels from 58 ppb to 2 ppb. In further testing he was able to scale this to larger volumes of grain with lower ozone levels and longer periods of time. Thus, showing the potential of ozone use in a grain bin on a large scale over numerous days of ozone treatment. Also, he found that corn with higher levels of moisture showed improved results vs dry corn.
In addition to this data, we are currently in the process of building an ozone trailer with the capacity of 2,500 g/hr ozone generation for a customer in Indiana. This was secured after numerous on-site pilot tests with ozone were performed with ozone rental equipment.
On a large scale ozone gas can be introduced into the a grain bin aeration system. We have found that higher ozone concentrations have better results, and that the grain should be mixed or agitated during the process to ensure that all of the contaminated corn is contacted with ozone gas.
For additional information review the links below for technical papers on this topic:
Evaluation of Aflatoxin-Related products from Ozonated Corn
Efficacy and safety evaluation of ozone to degrade aflatoxin in corn
Ozone has also proven effective removing aflatoxin from other foods. More papers linked below:
Ozone used for reduction of aflatoxin in peanuts
Ozone used for reduction of aflatoxin in pistachios
Ozone used for reduction of aflatoxin in cottonseed and peanut meal
To learn how we can put our experience to use for you, contact us today.
Creating ozone inside food package
Ever grab an apple out of the fruit bowl as you’re heading out the door, only to realize as the door clicks behind you that you forgot to wash it? If you’re like me, you don’t bother unlocking the door and going back inside to wash the apple. You quickly rub your sleeve over it and take the first bite, knowing even as you do so that you are leaving the bacteria alive and well on the apple’s skin.
What if you didn’t need to wash the apple, or even rub your sleeve over it? Kevin Keener, a food science professor at Purdue University, is doing a study on a method for ozonating fruit before it leaves its package. He has found that creating ozone inside a plastic bag of fruit kills food-borne bacteria. Even E. coli bacteria is killed after just 45 seconds of treatment.
It appears from the experiments so far that the quality of the food is not affected by the ozone treatment, although more studies will be performed in the future to ensure the quality of the food undergoing this treatment.
Link here to the original article, written by Brian Wallheimer.
The FDA recently proposed two new rules intended to make the government more proactive about food safety, contrasting the current stance which most view as reactionary.
The first of these proposed rules would require food makers to have documented food safety plans. These plan would include details about how the company intends to prevent food-borne contamination in their products, as well as details about how the company would respond to contamination problems if they arise.
The second proposed rule would place enforceable safety standards on farms that produce and harvest food for public distribution. These standards would be based on science and risk-based assessments that have been found to result in “best practices” for food safety.
Both proposed rules would allow food manufacturers and farms time to comply once they are finalized. Despite the time allowed, food safety professionals should consider a proactive approach, researching options and costs to allow for proper compliance budgeting.
Ozone has been proven effective as an effective tool in the food safety arsenal, having been granted GRAS approval by the FDA in 1997 and seeing expansive growth since that time. Ozone Solutions has experience integrating ozone systems for food safety at various stages in the food production chain. Contact us today for further details about how we can help with your food safety planning!
“Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food”
“Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human”
Image Credit: Flickr user RDECOM
Ozonated Ice and Fish Storage
Ozone can be dissolved into water and frozen in ice form to create ozonated ice. Ozonated ice is essentially a method to store ozone and the antimicrobial power of ozone. This ozonated ice can be used in the storage of fish to prolong shelf-life and maintain a fresher, better looking product to the end user.
Ozone use to produce ozonated ice is not a new concept. In 1936, research in the commercial fish industry was conducted in France that showed a 33% extension in shelf-life of fresh fish stored on ozonated ice when compared with ice produced from regular water in the holes of fishing vessels (Salmon, J).
The use of ozonated ice in fish storage has expanded beyond the fishing vessel to fish farming and processing throughout the industry. Today, many fish processors and fish farms will use ozonated ice for all their seafood storage needs. Ozonated ice offers a convenient method of prolonging the shelf-life of seafood products.
Typical Ozone Injection System used to provide ozone in water for ice production
References and Case Studies:
- Use of ozone and ozonated ice increased shelf life of good quality sardines from 5 days to 8 days, and acceptable quality sardines from 15 days to 19 days (Campos, et al).
- Salmon iced with ozonated ice extended shelf-life from 4 days to 6 days when compared to non-ozonated ice, this data led to full scale implemented of ozone at the same plant in full scale application shelf-life extension of 33-50% was realized (Blogoslawski, et al).
- Catfish fillets treated with aqueous ozone showed a shelf-life of 14 days, compared to 4-6 days for conventional treatments of iced fillets. In this case ozone provided greater than a 100% extension of shelf-life (Brooks and Pierce).
- Squid stored on ozonated ice extended shelf-life by 12% and had a 2 log reduction in aerobic bacterial plate count vs. squid stored on conventional flake ice with no ozone (Blogoslawski, et al).
- Walter Blogoslawski stated in his paper Some Ozone Applications in Seafood that in his research, a plastic milk bottle filled with triple-distilled super-ozonized water (2-4 mg O3/ml water) frozen at -80-deg C could retain a residual of 1-2 mg of ozone for up to 6-months.
- Sease (1976) has stated that the half-life of ozone at 0-deg C, under sterile conditions, is on the order of 2,000 years. Thus, freezing water which contains residual ozone will produce ice containing ozone, which will reform water containing dissolved ozone when it melts. Ozone sterilized ice can normally be expected to be used within a few hours of it’s manufacture, certainly within a few days. Under this scenerio, there should be little, if any, loss of ozone in the ice due to decomposition back to oxygen (Rice, et al).
Read this entire article on our website Here: Ozonated ice and fish storage
Seafood processing with ozone has proven to be a great tool in the search for food safety as it has in many other agri-food industries. There are more potential uses for ozone in the commercial seafood industry than many agricultural food based industries. Not only is ozone useful for food safety, but also for fish growing (aquaculture), storage, ozonated ice, and even odor control during processing.
The use of ozone in seafood processing can extend the shelf-life of the fish or seafood while providing an antimicrobial intervention within the process. Ozone is typically dissolved into water to apply aqueous ozone to the fish or seafood. As water usage is prevalent within current processing this provides a simple and effective method for contacting the ozone with the surface. The same equipment or method for dissolving ozone in water for processing can also produce ozonated ice for storage of your seafood product.
Traditional methods for sanitation in the seafood industry have been ineffective at providing food safety and high quality products. Improved sanitation methods have been sought. Since the acceptance of ozone use in food production and the GRAS approval granted in 2001, many uses for ozone have been researched and implemented in the commercial seafood processing industries.
Ozone use in seafood processing has shown benefits in the following areas:
Read this full article on our website - Ozone in Seafood Processing
For those of you interested in learning more about the use of ozone in food processing, there is a great new book on the subject.
Authors – Colm O’Donnell, B. K. Tiwari, P. J. Cullen, Rip G. Rice
John Wiley & Sons, Feb 3, 2012 – 312 pages
This book can be purchased at a variety of vendors, also Google sells e-versions of this book, clink HERE for info.
This book is the first to bring together essential information on the application of ozone in food processing, providing an insight into the current state-of-the-art and reviewing established and emerging applications in food processing, preservation and waste management.
The chemical and physical properties of ozone are described, along with its microbial inactivation mechanisms. The various methods of ozone production are compared, including their economic and technical aspects. Several chapters are dedicated to the major food processing applications: fruit and vegetables, grains, meat, seafood and food hydrocolloids, and the effects on nutritional and quality parameters will be reviewed throughout. Further chapters examine the role of ozone in water treatment, in food waste treatment and in deactivating pesticide residues. The international regulatory and legislative picture is addressed, as are the health and safety implications of ozone processing and possible future trends.
For more information on ozone and food processing check out our ozone and food processing page
Ozone for Every Family! Fresh Fruits, Vegetables and Meats Stay Fresher Longer in every Household Thanks to a Green Refrigerator Machine Organic Ozone Update
Ozonator™ announces its mission to extend family access to fresh food by providing every home with the Green Refrigerator Machine. By adding organic ozone to disinfect refrigerators from unwanted germs and bacteria, the Green Refrigerator Machine keeps meats and produce fresher longer, giving families the extended opportunity to keep what they buy fresh and germ free.
read full story HERE
Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) September 28, 2012
Today, Kevin Brooks of Ozonator, LLC, announced their mission to extend access of fresh food to every family by updating every household in American with a Green Refrigerator Machine™. The Green Refrigerator Machine by Ozonator LLC, is designed to use nature’s Ozone, which purifies the air, cleans the environment and helps make the sky blue, to naturally disinfect against unwanted germs and bacteria, keeping refrigerated foods fresher longer.
read full story HERE
A recent outbreak of Listeria has caused hospitalizations in 11 states, and resulted in 3 deaths so far according to information released from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The outbreak has been traced back to Ricotta Salata Frescolina brand cheese, which is imported from Italy by Forever Cheese (a Long Island-based company). In particular, the outbreak has been pinpointed to one particular production date of that cheese and Forever Cheese implemented a voluntary recall of this cheese on September 10.
The CDC, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state/local health officials are working together to investigate the outbreak further. For further details, and to see updates as the CDC posts them, please refer to their page regarding this Listeria outbreak.
At this point, the exact point of contamination regarding this outbreak is not known – so discussion of how the outbreak could have been prevented has not yet begun. However, in other food industries and in recent food safety research, ozone has been shown to be effective for reduction and inactivation of Listeria Monocytogenes. Research and testing of ozone as an anti-microbial tool is worth consideration for any food processing facility concerned with avoidance and elimination of Listeria-related food recalls.
To find out more, see below:
Photo Credit: FDA.gov
Review Of The Applications Of Ozone For Increasing Storage Times Of Perishable Focus
Paper Title: Review Of The Applications Of Ozone For Increasing Storage Times Of Perishable Focus
Ozone, the second most powerful oxidant readily available is an excellent sterilizing agent as well as chemical oxidizing agent. Because of this property, it has been studied for preservation foods. Indeed, many European countries currently employ ozone for maintaining holds of refrigerated ships free of bacteria, molds, odors, ets., for preservation of cheeses, eggs, some meats, poultry, some berries and some fruits. Much of this technology was developed shortly after World War II. Many of the earlier studies reported in the literature came to conflicting conclusions with respect to the efficiancy of ozone in providing improvements in storage lives of perishable foods.
In light of modern advances in ozone generation and associated equipment, as well as increased understandings of the various technologies associated with the application and handling of ozone, and advances in methods of food transportation (containerization and modularization), it is believed to be timely to re-evaluate the potentials for this versatile, but little understood oxidant/disinfectant, to provide cost-effective benefits in food preservation. This paper represents a first attempt to review past and current studies, with suggestions for future studies to develop those benefits which appear to be achievable for the food preservation and distribution industries.
Conclusion / Results
In reviewing these early studies, it is apparent that ozone contributes to extending the shelf life of ripening fruits and vegetables. Many fruits emit ethylene gas, which accelerates their ripening. Ozone reacts with ethylene, produces intermediate ethylene oxide which fights against mold, yeast and bacterial growth and slows the ripening process. Ozone was effective in controlling bacteria and mold on fresh meat when applied early in the meats storage. The bacterial growth rate on the surface of poultry is reduced when washed with ozonated water. Fresh fish preservation through the ozanization of sterlized ice for packaging and transportation offers great potential to eliminate fish spoilage.
OZONE: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Vol. 4, pp. 147-163, 1982
Pergamon Press Ltd.
Printed in the USA
Learn more about the use of ozone in food storage HERE
Want to use ozone at home? We sell a refrigerator ozone generator to bring this same technology to your home fridge!
E. coli Outbreak Solutions
Food processors throughout the United States are taking the resent outbreak of Escherichia coli (E.coli) very seriously. Looking for solutions to eliminate and kill the (E.coli) bacteria and other resistant forming bacteria’s/pathogens. On June 8th, CNN live broadcast that E. Coli outbreak sickens 14 in six states http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/08/health/e-coli-outbreak/index.html according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Improving food safety plans from the grower “Meats, Produce & Egg” to the processor, to the distributor. Corporate quality assurance professionals and food safety microbiologist are pursuing more reliable, cost effective solutions to get the job done! Click Here to see Produce Food Safety example >> (Produce HACCP Applications)
Is the public aware of the proactive system & applications food processors use on the daily bases to insure “safe” high quality product. For example: meats and produce processors use dissolved ozone in water systems as an antibacterial prevention and kill in spray washers, Flumes and foggers to destroy pathogens and bacteria. What is Ozone? Please read the illustration below! Why? Bacteria cannot build a resistance to Ozone!
Rest assured leaders in the food industry are taking giant proactive leaps to guarantee food safety.
For more information contact:
VP of Business Development