USDA/FSIS ACKNOWLEDGES INTERVENT UV LIGHT BELT SANITIZER AS A VALIDATED TECHNOLOGY

Main Menu | News By Date | News By Supplier | News By Category | About Us

USDA/FSIS ACKNOWLEDGES INTERVENT UV LIGHT BELT SANITIZER AS A VALIDATED TECHNOLOGY
16 September 2006 - BOC Gases

Intervent(TM) ultraviolet light technology that makes food safer for consumers by inactivating Listeria on food contact surfaces has been acknowledged as a control treatment of Listeria monocytogenes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service. The technology’s effectiveness has been validated by independent research conducted by Iowa State University. Intervent is a food safety business of BOC.

The newly validated non-aqueous UV light belt sanitizer is especially significant for producers of ready-to-eat foods because the pre-packaged nature of these foods eliminates the final, in-home cooking step that can kill any Listeria organisms.

"Producers of RTE products can now have confidence that there is a proven effective, acknowledged and economical means of killing Listeria on food contact surfaces," said Mark DiMaggio, BOC business manager, food safety markets.

A recent risk assessment conducted by the USDA FSIS, in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration, ranks certain RTE meat and poultry products as having a high potential for contamination. This is partly because Listeria, unlike other pathogens, is capable of growing at refrigerated storage temperatures during the extended shelf life of RTE meat and poultry products.

James Dixon, Ph.D., regent’s distinguished professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University, validated the new Intervent UV light belt sanitizer as a treatment for Listeria on food contact surfaces. The technology uses germicidal low-pressure UV light emitters to disrupt the DNA and RNA of microbial cells, thereby inactivating them. The validation showed that a one-second exposure treatment to UV reduced levels of Listeria monocytogenes from initial inoculation of 5 logs to below detection.

The Intervent conveyer belt sanitizer is a state of the art advanced technology that continuously kills bacteria on conveyer belts during food processing. The sanitizer is placed on conveyor-driven food process lines just before packaging or other operations where the potential exists for cross contamination from the conveying surfaces to food products.

The system can be easily retrofitted and customized to meet individual plant requirements. In addition, Intervent technologies are extremely cost effective compared with other treatment options.

Intervent developed the conveyer belt sanitizer in response to the needs of raw and RTE meat product processors. The system helps keep food contact surfaces sanitized in locations where it is not desirable for wet chemical or water-based sanitation to come in contact with food products. The system helps food processors eliminate excess moisture before key processes such as packaging and protect the final product between full plant wash down and other sanitation procedures.

Food processors look to BOC for its experience and expertise in delivering the engineered solutions they need. BOC helps customers address their atmosphere, microbe and temperature control requirements so they can deliver the highest quality food and beverages to their customers. BOC provides a range of offerings, such as ozone and UV light anti-microbial systems, cryogenic gases including carbon dioxide and nitrogen for seafood chilling and freezing, oxygen for acquaculture, modified atmosphere packaging, state-of-the-art food and beverage monitoring and process control technologies, and water management services.

http://www.boc.com

About: BOC Gases
Through its PGS line of business, BOC supplies gas and related solutions to the chemicals, petroleum, glass, water services, electronic packaging, fibre optics, hydrogen energy, metals and food industries. BOC helps meet customer needs in a variety of ways, from the supply of a single gas or application through to designing, constructing and operating fully integrated gas and utilities schemes.

The BOC Group, which serves two million customers in more than 50 countries, is one of the largest and most global of the world's leading gases companies. It employs some 44,500 people worldwide and had annual sales of over £4.3 billion in 2003. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at www.boc.com

The BOC Group has an international portfolio of companies grouped for management control and reporting into three lines of business: Process Gas Solutions, Industrial and Special Products, and BOC Edwards. It also has a specialist logistics business, Gist.

More News:
  • For September 2006
  • From BOC Gases
  • For Gases