Highly efficient disinfection of salads, vegetables and packaging materials with UVC technology

Shelf life and food safety is a major requirement in the salads, vegetables and fruit processing Fresh-cut industry. Now, KRONEN has further developed its UVC disinfection lock adapting it to the needs of the users. By means of Ultraviolet-C radiation technology the surface of vegetable and fruit products as well as of packaging materials and tools passed through the lock is disinfected efficiently and without using heat or additives.

Precondition for food safety and shelf life of Fresh-cut products is a maximal hygienic processing and packaging. The UVC disinfection lock of KRONEN is suitable for both: The surface of processed fruit and vegetable products, but also of packaging materials such as crates, boxes, or even of tools used for the processing can be disinfected.

The UVC disinfection technology is based on the production of UV radiation with a wavelength from 280 to 100 nanometers. Light of this wavelength is germicidal, since it destroys the germs’ DNA. By implementing so-called low pressure tubes or more powerful hybrid tubes the UVC light is created in the completely sealed casing of the disinfection lock. The germ reduction is indicated by the measuring unit of “Log10“ steps. If you have, for example, a number of 107 germs per gram at the beginning and it will be reduced to 102 germs per gram by the means of disinfection; then, this is equivalent to a reduction by 5 Log10 steps. Depending on the number and type of tubes and depending on the speed, which the lock is passed through with, the KRONEN UVC Lock can remove more than 6 Log10 steps and thus, up to 99,9999 % per cent of the germs (example based on Listeria monocytogenes germs).

Thanks to the UVC treatment the products and boxes are disinfected efficiently, safely and reliably within very short times – and this is without using heat or any undesirable additives or residues. Input of unwanted microorganisms into sensitive production areas is reduced by the UVC disinfection. Shelf life of products is increased and value added is enhanced. Another benefit is that drying of containers – as it needed to be done after spray disinfection – is no longer necessary. And the UVC Lock is ideally suited for separation of two rooms, e.g. low and high care. It is also suitable for extreme application areas with wet cleaning and for all temperature ranges.

More information about benefits of the UVC Lock can be found here.
 

KRONEN GmbH
Phone: +49 (0)7854 9646-0
info@kronen.eu
www.kronen.eu