Produce safety remains one of the biggest priorities throughout the food and beverage industry. Despite the best efforts, new headlines emerge of contaminated produce being recalled. This is not only damaging to the brand of the producer or seller, but it also decreases consumer confidence in healthy produce. For this very reason, food processing is a highly regulated industry with a series of strict procedures designed to safeguard food quality.
Producers will use common sanitizers such as chlorine, chlorine dioxide and PAA to remove soil or debris from the produce and prevent cross-contamination of harmful microbes. As part of the sanitation process, companies will be required to test their wash waters and validate their disinfection levels. This helps to ensure that sanitizer levels are high enough to be effective at ‘cleaning’ the produce, without compromising the integrity of the produce.
At PMA’s Fresh Summit, Palintest is introducing a new measurement technology to enable companies to validate their sanitizer levels and ensure effective food safety protocol. Their technology uses a sophisticated electrochemical technique which measures the reaction between their single-use sensors and the chemical in the water sample. Unlike common colorimetric solutions, this method removes any interferences caused by color in the water samples.
Kim Thye Lee, Managing Director of Palintest says:
“Food safety affects everyone and that’s why we are committed to improving food safety standards by supporting producers. Our technology has been tried and tested in a range of food and beverage facilities, and the reactions from the producers have been extremely positive. Their problem of inconsistent results from different operators will be removed as this technology is not dependent on the operator or their experience to perform the tests.”
Palintest has developed this technology with food processing in mind, working with businesses to ensure that the test is simple and easy to operate straight out of the box. Optimised for food processing facilities and the efficiency that it requires; the test uses no glassware and can be performed directly on the wash line.
Whilst performing these tests is a regulatory requirement, companies rely on this information to ensure that they are supplying produce which is clean and safe. By understanding their water matrix, companies can implement any corrective action and ensure that the produce reaching the shelves is safe for consumption.
Palintest’s new technology will be on display to the public for the first time at PMA’s Fresh Summit. To find out more visit the team at booth 352.
For marketing or press enquiries please contact faye.longridge@palintest.com