A review of microbiological safety of fruits and vegetables and the introduction of electrolyzed water as an alternative to sodium hypochlorite solution

Abstract

African Journal of Food Science, 2010; 4(13): 78 - 789Over the past few years, food safety has become and continues to be the number one public concern. Considerable progress to strengthen food safety systems has been achieved in many countries, highlighting the opportunities to reduce and prevent food-borne disease. However, unacceptable rates of food-borne illness still remain and new hazards continue to enter the food supply chain. Contaminations in food and agricultural products may occur in every stage of the food supply chain, from the field to the table, that is production, harvesting, processing, storage and distribution, calling for proper decontamination and insuring food safety at each of these stages using an effective antimicrobial agent. Several commercial products are available for this purpose, however, most of available products are seriously hindered by a number of work and environmental safety limitations calling for the development of a new product which is both safe for environment and workers. In this accord, the use of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW), a new concept developed in Japan, which is now gaining popularity in other countries has been introduced. The principle behind its sterilizing effect is still explored, but it has shown to have strong and significant bactericidal and virucidal and moderate fungicidal properties. Some studies have been carried out in Japan, China, Korea, Canada, Europe and the USA on its pre- and post-harvest application in the field of food processing. This review provides an overview of microbiological safety of food and agricultural produces, points out the burdens of food borne diseases; highlights the drawbacks of currently employed sanitizers and introduces electrolyzed water as a novel non-thermal food sanitizer with potential of application in agriculture and food industry