People who are interested in improving their health know how beneficial the addition of fresh fruits and vegetables can be to their diet. However, there are concerns associated with the safety of these products. These concerns stem from produce recalls due to foodborne illnesses. Today, many retailers are using Food Safety solutions, such as antimicrobial wash for produce, to reduce these concerns.

Retailers Should Consider Antimicrobial Wash for Produce

Retailers want the produce they sell to be safe, of the highest quality, and fresh. However, the inherent challenges concerning fresh food safety are much different for produce than they are for other types of food. Nonetheless, incorporating an antimicrobial wash for produce can help you meet your goals.

Make Practices of Raw Produce Providers Irrelevant

The growing, harvesting and processing practices vary from one raw produce provider to the next. Since it is impossible for retailers to know the practices of all their raw produce providers, many are implementing an antimicrobial wash treatment to eliminate the safety concerns associated with raw fruits and vegetables.

Fresh Solutions for Produce

Besides addressing safety concerns, using an antimicrobial wash for produce enhances its shelf life and reduces the likelihood of the fruit or vegetable shrinking, thus improving the quality of the produce as well. This improvement in quality is attributed to the antimicrobial produce wash destroying the bacteria that are responsible for spoilage.

Tips for Selecting an Antimicrobial Produce Wash

Make sure the wash has received a Notification Letter from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) verifying that it is an approved Food Contact Substance. Furthermore, the antimicrobial produce wash must be registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Some antimicrobial treatments for produce have limitations. Therefore, choose a product that offers simplicity and is approved for washing produce before crisping, peeling and cutting whole produce.

Be sure to select a produce wash that does not require a follow-up rinse.

All antimicrobial produce washes differ, which is why it is vital that the wash you choose can effectively eliminate the pathogens that are typically responsible for the foodborne illness outbreaks that are associated with fresh, raw produce. These pathogens include Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica. In addition, check the efficacy of the produce wash. An antimicrobial wash’s efficacy is generally conveyed as a percent kill (e.g., 99.999%). The majority of antimicrobial washes kill the pathogens in the water being used for rinsing, which prevents cross-contamination. Some of the antimicrobial washes for produce can also reduce the pathogens on the surface of raw fruits and vegetables.

Choose a wash that is easy to use and does not require personal protective equipment (PPE). Furthermore, all Fresh Solutions for produce must be able to safely come into contact with the skin.

Neglecting to select a wash that is easy to use can lead to an employee misusing the product or not using the product at all. For instance, if the wash lacks an automatic dispenser, employees may use too much or too little of the product.

Consider choosing Chemstar's Food Safety Solutions and Floral preservative products. Chemstar's products provide a way for you to offer your customers, associates and employees high-quality, safe produce and beautiful, long-lasting flowers.

 Sources :

1. http://www.foodprotect.org/issues/packets/2020Packet/attachments/III_007_content_c.pdf
2. http://chemstarcorp.com/produce/#washing



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