ReviewUse of ozone in food industries for reducing the environmental impact of cleaning and disinfection activities
Introduction
The interest in ozone as an alternative to chlorine and other chemical disinfectants in cleaning and disinfection operations is based on its high biocidal efficacy, wide antimicrobial spectrum, absence of by-products that are detrimental to health and the ability to generate it on demand, ‘in situ’, without needing to store it for later use.
It also has the significant advantage of being an environmentally friendly technology that reduces the company's environmental costs and facilitates their compliance with statutory obligations.
This advantage is usually underestimated by food companies, but the new environmental legislation emerging in Europe, especially the IPPC Directive 96/61/EC, will drive a change in the food industry in the next years that will increase the interest in the use of ozone. It should be taken into account that cleaning and disinfection operations are responsible for the greatest environmental impacts (water and energy consumption, wastewater, etc.) in a number of food processing plants.
The Spanish technological centre ainia is the leader of the OZONECIP project which has been recently funded by the EU LIFE Programme (LIFE 05 ENV/E/000251). This project will not only evaluate the use of ozone as a powerful disinfectant for machinery and equipment, and sanitisable surfaces in general, but also analyse the environmental advantages of ozone and its potential consideration as a Best Available Technology (BAT) for cleaning and disinfection in food processing plants.
Section snippets
Effect of the medium on the bactericidal efficacy of ozone
Ozone effectiveness against micro-organisms depends not only on the amount applied, but also on the residual ozone in the medium. Residual ozone is the concentration of ozone that can be detected in the medium after application to the target surface. Both the instability of ozone under certain conditions and the presence of ozone-consuming materials affect the level of residual ozone available in the medium. It is important, therefore, to distinguish between the concentration of applied ozone
Use of ozone to clean and disinfect surfaces and equipment
Ozone can be applied both as a gas and in ozonated water. Several studies have examined its efficacy by testing different treatments on various surfaces and micro-organisms and a number of these are listed in Table 1.
From the table it can be seen that moderate doses of ozone, between 0.5 ppm and 3.5 ppm, both in gas form and as ozonated water, are sufficient to achieve significant microbial reductions. These concentrations are potentially compatible with most plastic materials and certain types
Environmental impact of cleaning and disinfection: potential advantages of ozone
Cleaning and disinfection are essential to maintain hygienic conditions in food processing plants. However, high water and energy use and the generation of wastewaters have a significant environmental impact.
Large quantities of water are required for cleaning and disinfection in the food industry. The wastewater profile is largely dependent on production and cleaning patterns. Wine, beer and dairy processing plants installations use considerable amounts of water with the amount depending on the
Examples at industrial scale
Plumrose USA Inc. employs ozonated water for sanitising work areas and for processing equipment used for slicing and packaging ham, turkey, chicken and other meats. The company has a centralised system that produces ozonated water on demand (28 g ozone/h) and delivers it automatically to the work areas through closed piping under low pressure. As well as using ozonated water to sanitise plastic tubs and stainless steel walk-in coolers, the company also uses ozone instead of chlorine to rinse its
Equipment for ozone disinfection
Currently, three ozonation equipment suppliers have already received National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) registration of their systems for disinfecting surfaces with ozonated water. They are all identified in the NSF White Book™ Listing of Proprietary Substances and Nonfood Compounds (http://www.nsf.org/usda). As a result of this registration, food processors can consider these systems as ‘USDA approved’ for sanitation of food-contact and nonfood-contact surfaces. This is particularly
The IPPC Directive and the best available techniques
European environmental legislation is increasingly requiring polluting industries to move to clean technologies. The most important regulation in this respect is the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive 96/61/EC, which has considerable relevance and far-reaching effects for all European food manufacturers.
The IPPC directive attempts to encourage the Best Available Techniques (BATs). BATs are defined as techniques that enable competitive levels of quality and productivity
The LIFE PROJECT OzoneCIP
The “Ozone clean in place in food industries” project (OzoneCIP) has been funded by the EC under the LIFE-Environment Programme (LIFE 05 ENV/E/000251). This project aims to demonstrate the environmental benefits obtained by the use of Clean In Place procedures based on ozone techniques in place of the traditional techniques. Furthermore, as a result of the achievement of environmental indicators, the classification of this technology as a BAT and its widespread knowledge and implementation
References (22)
- et al.
A comparison of ozonation and chlorination for the disinfection of stainless steel surfaces
Journal of Dairy Science
(1993) - et al.
Ozone and its current and future application in the food industry
Advances in Food and Nutrition Research
(2003) - et al.
Plasmid-mediated resistance to antimicrobials among Listerieae
Journal of Food Protection
(1998) - et al.
Bactericidal properties of ozone and its potential application as a terminal disinfectant
Journal of Food Protection
(2000) - Bailey, R. A., Young, A., Fielding, L., Griffiths, C. (2001). Use of a bioaerosol test chamber to assess the...
Ozone technology gets a clean break
Food Manufacture
(2003)- Boisrobert C. (2002). U.S. regulatory review of ozone use in the food industry, Ozone III: Agricultural & food...
Developments in the management of Brettanomyces
Wine Industry Journal
(2004)- EPRI. (2000) Electric Power Research Institute. Direct food additive petition. Ozone as an antimicrobial agent for the...
Winery sanitation driven by changing regulations and consumer demand
Vineyard & Winery Management
(2004)
Ozone in dairy chilling water systems: effect on metal materials
International Journal of Dairy Technology
Cited by (210)
Disinfection of polyvinyl siloxane impression material using ozone gas, 0.1% riboflavin, glutaraldehyde, and microwave irradiation and their effect on physical properties
2023, Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic TherapyNon-thermal techniques and the “hurdle” approach: How is food technology evolving?
2023, Trends in Food Science and TechnologyCurrent development in ozone-based food preservation
2023, Food Packaging and Preservation: Antimicrobial Materials and TechnologiesExogenous postharvest application of ROS for prolonging the shelf-life of horticultural crops
2023, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Sulfur Species in Post-Harvest Physiology of Horticultural CropsWinery wastewater treatment for biomolecules recovery and water reuse purposes
2023, Advanced Technologies in Wastewater Treatment: Food Processing Industry