Sustainability in Organic Processing

Producing an abundant, nutritious, and appealing food supply is no small feat, but once produced, it must be kept safe. Food safety must be ensured by controlling a wide spectrum of microorganisms that could otherwise threaten consumer health. Food processors and beverage bottlers are challenged with controlling harmful microbes with applications that are safe to humans and minimally impactful to the environment. The growth of the organic food and beverage market necessitates the expansion of environmentally benign chemistries that can be used in food and beverage processing while meeting the strict organic processing standards.

Organic Food Market

According to the Nutrition Business Journal, “…the organic food and beverage market in the U.S. was valued at $29.2 billion in 2011, with growth projected at 9.4 percent, as compared to an anticipated growth in the low single digits for conventional food and beverages.” As consumer demand for unique, organic products continues to grow, processors are challenged to meet this expanding need with affordable products that comply with safety standards mandated by the separate and distinct regulating agencies FDA and EPA.

Pathogen Control

The food and beverage industry has evolved into a highly regulated market to address foodborne disease outbreaks such as botulism. Regulation of the food processing establishment—including food processing, processed food, packaging, and equipment—is under the jurisdiction of the FDA. The EPA is the responsible agency for regulating antimicrobials used in the aseptic packaging process. The dual agency oversight highlights the technical rigor required to offer a regulated sterilant that meets the all-encompassing FDA performance guidelines as they relate to foodstuffs and packaging, as well as the environmental controls associated with the chemical products used as microbial control agents.

In spite of great strides in aseptic packaging safety, contaminants persist in the food systems. In the past, packaging of shelf-stable food and beverages has relied on a variety of technologies—conventional retort process, polyethylene terephthalate (known as PET) bottle hot-fill, or simple addition of preservatives in the food—to achieve pathogen control. However, today the market demands high-quality, nutritional, shelf-stable beverages, which can be produced only with modern technologies such as flash-heating pasteurization or Ultra-High Temperature sterilization process and cold-fill aseptic packaging technology.

Peracetic acid (PAA) or hydrogen peroxide sterilants are used in the vast majority of aseptic filling machines to sterilize beverage containers. Both demonstrate effective pathogen control. These chemistries are environmentally friendly, with hydrogen peroxide breaking down into oxygen and water, and peracetic acid breaking down into oxygen, acetic acid (vinegar), and water.

Specialty Grade Sterilants

To exploit the full potential of the latest generations of high-speed aseptic filling equipment and to achieve processing efficiencies that yield environmental benefits, PAA and hydrogen peroxide sterilants need to be formulated specifically to address the unique requirements of each type of machine.

PAA is used for sterilizing beverage packaging in extended shelf life and low-acid and high-acid aseptic applications. A robust sterilization process is critical for controlling spore-forming bacteria of pathogens such as Clostridium botulinum and Bacillus subtilis. Special grade PAAs like from PeroxyChem are stable even in dilute form and have been known to demonstrate slower degradation during sterilization under the application parameters of aseptic filling processes. The elevated temperature of sterilization degrades PAA and diminishes PAA’s effectiveness over time. Users are able to extend the production cycle and thus reduce the consumption of the chemical sterilant agent.

Hydrogen peroxide has been used as the primary sterilant in the aseptic packaging industry for over 50 years. With the increase in production rates and flexibility demands, the latest packaging machines require a much higher quality of hydrogen peroxide to reduce the maintenance downtime. Two major sterilization processes exist: bath and vapor or atomized spray. The bath process requires the peroxide to be stable in a bath at an elevated temperature for an extended time, while the vapor and spray processes require the peroxide to produce extremely low dry residue buildup to prevent clogging of the system. The choice of a high-performance grade of hydrogen peroxide, which is fine-tuned for the specific aseptic system, can greatly improve the production efficiency by reducing downtime for cleaning and reduce total cost of ownership of the beverage processor by minimizing labor time and maintenance costs.