SALINAS, CA - Produce’s gravitational pull toward food safety continues to grow stronger, and solutions providers are innovating in an effort to mitigate challenges. Minimizing cross-contamination can reduce the opportunities for pathogens to spread—something SmartWash Solutions® knows well. The company is currently expanding access and distribution of its SmartWash Boost™ product, a patent-pending process aid used to pretreat fresh-cut produce items prior to washing.

“SmartWash Boost serves as an initial kill step, eliminating most E. coli and other pathogens before they have the opportunity to contaminate a wash line and spread to other product,” said Steven Swarts, Director of Business Development. “Combined with SmartWash® or SmartWash® Organic wash line chemistry and our Pinpoint Process Control™ systems, the result is the virtual elimination of the risk of outbreaks from leafy greens and fresh-cut produce.”

SmartWash Boost combines Pure Bioscience’s® product PURE® Control, containing Silver Dihydrogen Citrate (SDC)—the patented molecule utilizing stabilized ionic silver known for its antibacterial properties. This is combined with SmartWash Solutions’ chemistry to boost established free chlorine wash process lethality, resulting in a 2.94 log reduction of Listeria monocytogenes and a 3.15 log reduction of E. coli 0157:H7, according to a press release.

A recent USDA-ARS study confirmed and documented the increased effectiveness of adding SmartWash Boost to existing produce food safety protocols. Measurements of tissue integrity and headspace gas composition also demonstrated the shelf-life, quality, and appearance of fresh-cut produce products were unaffected, the press release noted.

“Since the costs of an outbreak in terms of response, lost sales, and damage to brand reputation are so significant, it makes sound economic sense for companies to achieve the highest level of pathogen control possible, and the combination of SmartWash and SmartWash Boost provides that level of protection,” Swarts continued. “This USDA study showed extraordinary results in fresh-cut lettuce, and we are continually researching additional applications for this product with promising data already arising for several fruit and vegetable commodities that are not currently processed on a traditional wash line.”

With the potential for more solutions than ever on the horizon, keep checking back to ANUK.

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