Food Engineering Magazine interviewed Jay Sughroue Ph.D., BioSafe Systems Southwest Agriculture Area Manager, about the groundbreaking first in treating preharvest agricultural water approved by the FDA and EPA. To understand and control foodborne pathogenic threats to consumers, members of government, academia, and the agriculture industry combined forces to study the treatment of preharvest agricultural water contamination. They had to consider the location and type of water source, distribution systems, exposure to contamination, crop characteristics, and environmental conditions. They conducted extensive testing and analyzed results diligently.
This teamwork cooperation produced the successful registration of the first antimicrobial treatment for pathogen reduction in preharvest agricultural water. Even before the FDA revised agricultural water requirements in the Produce Safety Rule, BioSafe Systems’ product SaniDate 12.0 was being tested in large-scale trials. SaniDate 12.0 was evaluated over several years with the University of Arizona Water Quality Specialist, Dr. Channah Rock, and has shown its effective control over foodborne pathogens like E. Coli (STEC) and Salmonella enterica in water used to grow and irrigate crops. While SaniDate 12.0 is already in use for irrigation water treatment, where it was previously successful in controlling slime-forming bacteria, algae, and water molds, it now also is EPA-registered, and FDA approved for the control of human health pathogens.
Read more about the EPA-registered, and FDA approved SaniDate 12.0 as an antimicrobial for preharvest water treatment here.
Questions?
SaniDate 12.0 uses peroxyacetic acid (PAA) to effectively kill potentially harmful human health pathogens that can contaminate irrigation water used in the production of fruits and vegetables. E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica are two of the most common culprits in food safety recalls and foodborne illnesses. While there are several postharvest EPA-registered products in the marketplace for controlling human health pathogens, SaniDate 12.0 is the first of its kind for controlling these harmful bacteria in preharvest irrigation water.
