Six Years of Ozone Processing of Fresh Cut Salad Mixes

Abstract

Strickland Produce Inc., Nashville, TN, packages fresh cut salads in bags for the ready-to-eat market. Produce is sorted, cut, washed, packed in plastic bags and distributed under refrigeration. Flume water washes and transports products through the plant, and is recycled in a closed loop. Ozone was installed full-scale in 2000 for flume water treatment (200 gpm) and has provided significant improvement in plant product qualities plus savings in water, labor, and plant effluent costs for the past six years. With chlorine treatment alone, the flume water quickly became discolored, laden with organic residues, and needed to be replaced every 2–3 hours. With the ozone treatment, flume water is replaced once daily, allowing for at least a 60% flume water savings. Of even more significance are the labor savings resulting from less frequent changing of spent flume water. Costs for ozonation equipment were recovered in less than two years.

Keywords:

• Ozone
• Fresh Cut Salad Mixes
• Flume Water Treatment and Recycling
• Chlorination
• Labor Savings
• Cost Savings
• Improved Product Quality

Acknowledgments

This paper is a User Success Report (USR) presented at the IOA Conference in Valencia, Spain, October 2007.