UV disinfecting light is effective at killing harmful microbes in food and beverages. It is safe and doesn’t make your foods or drinks radioactive. It’s a popular sanitation method in the food and beverage industry.
Industrial Uses of UV Disinfecting Light
Using UV light on food improves its safety and helps prevent foodborne illnesses. Here are some of the common uses of UV light treatment on food and beverages:
Meat, Poultry, and Fish: Meat processing and packaging centers use UV light in food disinfection processes. UV light disinfects surfaces for processing meat products like conveyor belts. It also sanitizes meat packaging areas and containers. Your local meat processing plant likely utilizes this technology to deliver healthy meat products that are safe from contamination.
Beverages: UV light treatment eliminates any harmful microorganisms that may cause foodborne illnesses. It disinfects packing containers and lids in the beverage industry. This increases the quality and safety of bottled drinks and water.
Dairy: Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) light is common in the dairy industry. It’s helpful when packing fresh dairy products such as cheese, milk, and yogurt. The UV wavelengths keep dairy products safe from harmful viruses and bacteria.
Liquid Sugar Tanks: You can use UV light to disinfect your liquid sugar ingredients for storage. This maintains or improves the quality of your ingredients stored in the tanks. It inhibits microbes from thriving in the stored liquid sugar and sweeteners.
Baking: Treating flour and yeast with UV light is common in the baking industry. It prevents mold spores from growing. This increases your baking product’s shelf life and profit generation.
Frozen Foods: UV light treatment helps remove the risk of harmful microbes in frozen foods. Use UV light to disinfect foods and packaging containers before storage. Doing so improves the lifespan and quality of your frozen food items.
Fruits and Vegetables: Treating your fruits and vegetables before packaging increases their shelf life. It reduces spoilage and damage from insects, saving you time and money.
Ways UV Light Helps Improve Food and Beverage Safety
Sanitizing Food Contact Surfaces
UVGI light works best on all surfaces. This makes it ideal for sanitizing any surface that makes contact with your food. It could be your kitchen countertop or packaging containers and surfaces.
Studies show that about 254nm wavelengths of UV light kill up to 99.9% of harmful foodborne microbes. This type of light enters and damages the microbes’ cellular function, preventing them from growing.
You should first clean and keep your food contact surfaces free from dirt. Doing so makes UV light more efficient at protecting your surfaces from germs.
Disinfecting Water and Beverages
UV disinfecting light helps sanitize liquid sweeteners, sugary syrups, and other beverages. The light kills microbes in your beverages and packaging containers, maintaining your drinks safety and health for extended periods.
Consider using UV light to purify your water. It’s effective for killing dangerous microbes that chlorine does not.
For optimal UV light efficiency, filter your water well. This removes manganese, iron, or other particles that may absorb or scatter the light. There should be no shadows or obstructions in the water that may affect UV light efficiency.
Tackling Mold and Mildew in Freezers
A UV light disinfection system provides radiation to help sanitize your walk-in refrigerator. It safely kills mold and mildew in your freezer without using dangerous chemicals. Be sure to store your food items in the freezer for extended periods, as UV light kills foodborne pathogens.
Reasons To Use UV Light on Food and Beverages
UV light treatment offers many benefits to food and beverage disinfection processes. Some of the key benefits include:
Highly Effective: UV radiation kills up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses on surfaces. It prevents mold from growing and preserves food products.
Cost-Effective: Using UV light to disinfect your foods and beverages is economical. Most UV lamps are of high quality and don’t require much maintenance.
Quick: Treating your foods and beverages against harmful microorganisms using UV light is fast. UV light kills foodborne pathogens in minutes.
Easy To Maintain: UV light systems have quality bulbs to give you a long-lasting performance with little maintenance.
Eco-friendly: UV light is safe for the environment. It delivers radiation for effective food disinfection without using or emitting toxic chemicals.
Improve Food Safety With UV Disinfecting Light
UV disinfecting light is highly effective and kills up to 99.9% of harmful foodborne contaminants. It offers an extra layer of protection in your school, home, restaurant, or any other facility. This keeps your customers, family, and staff safe from foodborne illnesses. UV disinfection is safe and eliminates the use of toxic chemicals to disinfect your foods and beverages.
