As reported earlier by Food Engineering (September, '97), ozone -- a powerful oxidant which destroys microbes -- was affirmed as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by an FDA-recognized expert panel.
As reported earlier by Food Engineering (September, '97), ozone -- a powerful oxidant which destroys microbes -- was affirmed as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by an FDA-recognized expert panel. According to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, CA, ozone reacts up to 3,000 times faster than chlorine with organic materials and destroys both bacteria and viruses. Although the FDA has not yet listed ozone as GRAS, ozone is already finding applications in retarding spoilage and extending the shelf life of fruits, in cleaning and sanitizing food plants, and in disinfecting poultry process waters for reuse.
USDA's Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) allows the use of ozone to disinfect poultry process water for reuse on a case-by-case basis. "Individual companies can come to the agency with experimental protocols for how they would want to use a particular technology in individual facilities on an experimental basis, until we actually get the regulations changed," said Dr. Daniel Englejohn, FSIS director of regulations development and analysis.