Development of Dose Breach Indicator Labels for Chlorine Dioxide Sanitation of Fruits and Vegetables

Spoilage losses of fresh fruits and vegetables are estimated to account for 20% of all edible food losses in the U.S. alone. This loss is significantly higher in developing countries due to less sophisticated harvesting and processing equipment and practices. For instance, it is believed that 40% of all food production is lost due to spoilage in India. Microbial contamination of the harvested produce, if left unchecked, leads to infection and subsequent rotting of the fruits and vegetables while en route to the consumer, as well as potential human illness if the consumer eats contaminated produce.If theproposed system is succesfully utilized by produce processing and distirbution companies, fruits and vegetables will be exposed to an efficacious dose of chlorine dioxide resulting in a dramatic reductionof microbial threats. This reduction in microbial threats will increase food security by dramatically reducing naturally occurring or intentional food contamination. Likewise, the significant reduction in microbial threats will reduce spoilage to allow for more availability of fruits and vegetables in under-served areas.