Author- Nadim Dinani, Dept. of Biotechnology, Royal College, Mira Road, Mumbai
Product sanitation is an important and inevitable process for most of the industries (*related to biological products). This includes the application of UV rays for the protection of foods and fruit juices (brands), treatment of pharmaceuticals and biological products (during packaging and processing), sterilization of dishes, drinking glasses, silverware and cutlery used in restaurants and other public places.
Product sanitation has been of great concern over the years. Preservation of Food and other products at a large scale and at economical level is a task demanding time, money, space, labour, and add to the wastage. For example - Treatment of food in refrigerators to reduce odours and provide protection by the disinfection of enclosed air have been practiced.
Treatment of meat in storage to reduce spoilage and make it less necessary to use lower temperature was required immediately, years back. Such storage was growing uneconomical for the business involving meat storage and associated works . To prevent bacteria and molds from forming on meat in coolers and holding rooms, the temperature must be kept at 1.1 to 2.2 °C. Under such temperature, the humidity drops to about 60% with the result that meat dries, weight is reduced and some of the meat juices are lost. As meat is dehydrated, the surface darkens in colour, must be trimmed. Loss due to trimming, drying out, bacterial slime and mold may run as high as 15% for an average retail dealer .Even when germicidal tubes are used in coolers, temperature can be increased by 7.2°C which permits higher humidity which reduce dehydration and discoloration of the product. A much economical and user friendly escape to these problems are UV radiations. Amount of UV light can prevent mold from forming and reduce trimming waste. Meats may be held in storage longer, odours are minimized and mold growth can be prevented on walls, floors and ceilings.
More such techniques , have evolved over the years, which are much simpler, easier, economical and user- friendly.
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