“Your body is a temple. You are what you eat”: this old saying emphasizes the necessity of food. Today, this statement is more relevant than ever, as consumers pay greater attention to their food choices and the supply chain that takes food from production to point of sale.

This conscious behavior is driving major food & beverage producers to invest in safety and quality control. Light Progress, a company that has been designing, developing, and manufacturing UV-C solutions for over 35 years, provides significant support in this endeavor.

These solutions target disinfection against viruses, bacteria, pathogens, mold, and other contaminants. There are many benefits for the food & beverage industry, including extending shelf-life, improving the quality of the final product, and drastically reducing the need for chemical disinfectants. UV-C devices have been used in food production for over half a century to eliminate E. coli, salmonella, and listeria, for example. Light Progress has a broad range of interests, as do the applications that can benefit from this technology:

• Localized or centralized air disinfection, eliminating mold and bacteria from production areas, air ducts, cold storage, cooling tunnels, and towers;
• Deep disinfection of production and packaging areas, where UV-C light can decontaminate even hard-to-reach places that are difficult to clean with regular methods;
• Product surface disinfection before packaging, for items like fresh pasta and baked goods, just to name a few;
• Disinfection of containers and packaging materials, such as films, trays, cans, jars (yogurt jars, for example), bottles, and caps. The effectiveness of this process is determined in advance, and the installation is simplified for automatic machines, even those already in use;
• Water decontamination used during production.

How to treat and preserve baked goods

Bread, pastries, and many other baked goods are perishable foods. They are best consumed fresh, but this condition lasts only a few hours after leaving the oven. To extend their commercial life, they must be stored and packaged without compromising their organoleptic characteristics and preventing microbial growth. There are many sources of microbial spoilage in baked goods, the most common of which is mold. Mold spoilage is due to post-processing contamination.

Freshly baked products are free of mold spores thanks to heat inactivation during the baking process. However, operations such as weighing and mixing ingredients increase the mold levels in the surrounding air, leading to product contamination during cooling, slicing, packaging, and storage. In large bakeries, flour-handling areas are often separated from the cooling and packaging areas. The solution to these issues comes from UV-C light, which destroys and inactivates microorganisms, reducing the risk of contamination.

UV-C technology from Light Progress, independently tested for its effectiveness in destroying viruses and bacteria, is commonly used in the most modern food industries. UV-C solutions for the food industry, specifically designed to be installed in various environments, are made from stainless steel to ensure compatibility with production machinery and guarantee safety and durability. They are mainly installed on packaging lines, where the product is at greater risk of contamination, but applications are widespread and include raw material warehouses and production lines.

How to treat and preserve meat and meat products

Laboratories and industries involved in meat processing must operate under strict environmental conditions, with low temperatures and controlled humidity. Essential to ensuring preservation and safety, these conditions may not always be sufficient to prevent the growth of unwanted microorganisms. Prevention is possible with UV-C light, which eliminates germs, bacteria, and fungi. UV-C technology helps reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses by eliminating harmful pathogens such as Escherichia coli, listeria, salmonella, and pseudomonas.

By suppressing microorganisms and mold that cause spoilage, UV light extends shelf life, reduces food waste, and maintains the organoleptic properties of the meat. UV-C technology also helps producers comply with food safety and hygiene regulations and reduces the need for sampling of Ready-To-Eat (RTE) products. UV-C lamps and systems can be used for disinfecting machinery, equipment surfaces, and utensils, as well as working areas in meat processing facilities to minimize the risks of cross-contamination during meat handling. UV-C systems can be installed in all processing areas and cold rooms to continuously sanitize the air or disinfect the water used in processing, or to purify the air in the environment during transportation, packaging, and storage operations.

Benefits of UV-C systems

Investing in UV-C systems provides long-term economic benefits for Light Progress customers. Reducing the risk of contamination and increasing product shelf life, for example, leads to significant savings and improves corporate reputation, as well as preventing recalls of non-compliant products that would negatively impact the brand’s perception by final consumers. If sized and applied correctly, UV-C technology offers numerous advantages. However, it is always essential to rely on competent companies such as Light Progress to precisely calculate the UV dose needed to achieve the desired microbial reduction and to integrate UV systems with all safety precautions and optimal functionality for operators.

More Safety, Less Waste

UV-C technology is increasingly essential in the food industry (raw material treatment, product handling and processing, storage, transportation) due to its ability to enhance safety, extend shelf life, improve quality, and ensure regulatory compliance. By implementing tailored UV-C solutions to meet specific customer needs, Light Progress enables producers to meet consumer expectations while simultaneously reducing operational costs and food waste.

For more information: https://www.lightprogress.it/en/solutions/food-pharma-hygienic-processing/