Pollutant Ozone Could Preserve Packaged Food

Food preservation levels could be greatly enhanced by using ozone inside packaging, it's been suggested. Ozone, an oxygen-based molecule, is an abundant air pollutant and also works to protect us from harmful UV ray exposure.

Now, it could have a new role, after tests revealed that it was much more capable of keeping vegetables and fruits alive than the current generation of chemical preservatives.

Studies showed that only about five per cent of the food products exposed to it developed fungal contamination - the main reason why foods goes off.

Fungal materials claim an estimated 30 per cent of fresh vegetable and fruit products and, to counteract the effects, food has been traditionally treated with pesticides prior to the packaging stage.

Ozone Food Packaging

The ozone food packaging study was led by UK-based researcher Doctor Ian Singleton and it was presented to those gathered at the Spring Conference staged by the Society for General Microbiology at the start of April.

"There are public concerns over pesticide residues on fresh produce", Singleton explained. "Ozone is a viable alternative to pesticides as it is safe to use and effective against a wide spectrum of micro-organisms."

Crucially, he added, "...it leaves no detectable residues, in contrast to traditional methods of preserving fresh produce."

Ozone Food Preservation

Among the produce types kept fresh in the ozone food preservation studies were tomatoes, plums, grapes and strawberries. Where the tomatoes were concerned, pre-fungal ozone exposure seemed to make them less susceptible to future contamination.

"This suggests that ozone treatment exerts a 'memory' or 'vaccination' effect that protects fruit from damage", Singleton said, of this effect. "It is unclear how this phenomenon works, but it is certainly worthy of further, detailed investigation."

The researchers involved are aware of the need to ensure the food's ozone exposure rates are right for each type of packaged fruit/vegetable.

Work in this area will likely form part of future research and Packaging International will revisit this subject in follow-up news coverage.