Innovative Continuous Sanitization of Fresh Produce Harvesting Equipment

Recent foodborne illness outbreaks traced to contaminated field harvesting equipment have highlighted the need for incorporating improved sanitization practices at the time of harvest. Field- harvested specialty crops represent 50% of the top ten foods linked to major recalls and outbreaks over the past five years. Proper sanitization of outdoor harvest equipment is made complicated by operational and environmental challenges which impede regular, periodic cleaning of operating equipment. Current sanitization solutions include application of environmentally damaging chemicals like chlorine or cost prohibitive technological solutions like UV light. Chemical-based solutions face further constraints due to limited water availability and the necessity of minimizing the introduction of chemicals to the soil through spilled water. En Solución proposes a cost- effective, easily implemented, chemical and residual-free, continuous sanitization system that utilizes ozone nanobubbles to neutralize pathogens and biofilms on key surfaces of field harvesting equipment. Ozone, in both its gaseous and aqueous phases, is generally recognized as safe by the FDA and has been shown to be highly effectively at reducing microbial contamination; however, operational inefficiency and environmental safety concerns have precluded widespread adoption of aqueous ozone by the agriculture industry. Unlike traditional macro-sized bubbles from existing technologies, the nanobubbles produced by En Solución’s technology have the remarkable ability to remain stable in high concentrations for months at a time and allow for high gas infusion rates and retention times. En Solución will deliver a fully automated system that provides continuous sanitization for field harvesting equipment to address the shortcomings of current approaches: it will provide ozone in concentrations proven effective for pathogen neutralization and biofilm eradication and prevention, with nearly instantaneous sanitization; it will minimize water usage via recycling and precision dosing; and it is harmless when spilled on fields (the ozone in the entrained nanobubbles will decay naturally to oxygen on the order of half an hour). During the Phase I project, En Solución will develop a field-scale ozone nanobubble sanitization unit and fully validate the technology via pilot implementation at an operating farm and comprehensive third party microbial testing.