Case Study: Food Industry Disinfection

Disinfection / mold control in a cold storage room for fruit

Swiss Food Law requires that production and storage areas for food must be free from mold. This can sometimes pose a challenge, especially in storage rooms with elevated humidity levels. Sanosil S010 can be a valuable tool in addressing this issue.

• Area treated: Cooling room for exotic fruits
• Product used: Sanosil S010
• Application method: Direct and targeted spraying of critical surfaces using a spray device.

Situation description

In cooled storage and handling rooms for exotic fruits, there is a consistently high humidity level. This prevents the fruits from drying out but simultaneously creates favorable conditions for mold growth. Mold growth on walls/ceilings of the cooling rooms not only jeopardizes the shelf life of the fruits but also violates food safety regulations.

Special considerations

Up to now, critical surfaces have been regularly sprayed with chlorine solution. However, this practice resulted in strong odor emissions.

Implementation

Critical surfaces prone to mold growth are regularly disinfected to prevent mold growth. A special spray device with electrostatically charged spray mist ensures optimal adherence of S010 disinfectant droplets on the surface. The fruits remain in the room during disinfection, but they are shielded from direct contact with the disinfectant by plastic film covering the areas to be disinfected.

Outcome

Switching to Sanosil S010 has shown significantly better effectiveness compared to the previously used chlorine bleach. The average microbial load from mold spores in the air has noticeably decreased. It is believed that while chlorine bleach provided a positive visual effect through bleaching, its disinfection performance was inadequate. Moreover, it consistently emitted strong and persistent chlorine odors.