DEL Ozone provides ozone-enriched water systems for fruits & vegetables, meat, poultry and fish cleaning and processing. Our systems can be easily integrated into flume, cascade, or drench type operations. DEL Ozone systems can be integrated into both ozone prewash and ozone wash sections.

As an FDA approved direct food contact anti-microbial agent, ozone can be dissolved into water and used for direct contact on fruits and vegetables, raw and ready-to-eat meat and poultry, fish and commercial eggs. The benefits of ozone-enriched water far outweigh chemical-enriched water traditionally used in the 20th century. DEL’s ozone-enriched water efficacy testing performed by the National Sanitation Foundation (under AOAC Methodology) that ozone dissolved in water can provide a 6 log reduction in as low as 30 seconds (depending on the microorganism). Ozone-enriched water leaves no chemical residue on your product and actually assists in removing cleaner residues from some products.

The upper left-side panel photo shows a drench operation on tomatoes utilizing a DEL AGW-1500G mobile recirculating ozone system. Using this process (ozone-enriched wash) on fruits or vegetables yields many benefits. The main benefits of direct contact on many fruits and vegetables are:

• Longer shelf life
• Improved product color and appearance
• Improved taste
• Reduced product spoilage
  

DEL Ozone systems can be easily integrated into most existing conveyor lines and flumes. Our systems provide low pressure spray, cascade, drench or flume designs for end-user fabrication to integrate into existing wash lines. DEL can also provide plumbing designs for recycling or flow-through systems to fit into most wash lines. Ozone is used in both prewash (to disinfect water) and wash (to disinfect product) sections of your process.

FDA/CFSAN - June 26, 2001 - Final Rule published in Federal Register (21 CFR Part 173, Docket No. 00F-1482) ”The FDA amends the food additive regulations to provide for the safe use of ozone in gaseous and aqueous phase as an anti-microbial agent on food, including meat and poultry.”

USDA/FSIS

USDA/National Organic Program (NOP)
Ozone is listed in the NOP Final Rule (Subsection 205.605 (b) (20) pg. 437 - Nonagricultural (non organic) substances allowed as ingredients in or on processed products labeled as “organic” or “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s)).
   (b) Synthetics allowed:
    (20) ozone

The use of ozone on raw and ready-to-eat meat and poultry products just prior to packaging is acceptable. There are no special labeling requirements in regard to treated product.