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Assessing Effective Quality Controls of Chlorination for Produce Postharvest Wash Water

Vivian WH Chong and Amanda J Kinchla

Postharvest produce sanitation is an important consideration in reducing food safety risks. Evaluation of current Should on-farm sanitation practices may reveal factors that affect the effectiveness of current sanitizers with fruits and vegetables. The goal of this research is to determine and validate commercially available quality controls for postharvest rinse water to support small farms. In this study we evaluated and compared two commercially available portable Oxidative Reduction Potential (ORP in millivolts) meters and three types of free chlorine test strips as an on farm quality control tool to monitor process wash water sanitation. The quality controls were evaluated using different types of synthetic process wash water (soil, vegetation, and vegetation / soil and challenge water) at varied turbidity concentrations that were inoculated with E.coli O157:H7. Results indicate that different types of wash water solutions can influence the free residual chlorine levels. Data suggests ORP range 650-800 RmV and free chlorine test strips used under low turbid wash conditions can be used as a qualitative tool to monitor the free residual chlorine levels for small farm postharvest sanitation management as a best practice for food safety.