Effective January 1, 2010 Russia has banned chickens from countries using chlorine in poultry processing. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently weighed into the Russian ban on US chicken imports. Putin made the Americans the “odd man out” saying that Russia was merely joining the EU in banning, for food safety reasons, chickens from chlorine-using countries.
Russia has announced that the country would import a total of 780,000 mt of poultry in 2010. The US quota is 600,000 mt for 2010. Since the ban, however, prices for American poultry in Russia are up about 20%.
Ozone is safe
"Our ozone treatment is a safe, chemical free solution as an effective antimicrobial," said Aquentium CEO Mark Taggatz.
The Aquentium complete line of commercial ozone equipment is an alternative to chemicals for disinfection of both air and water. In addition to purification of air and water, the ozone equipment extends the shelf life of fresh food naturally - without the use of chemicals.
The use of ozone in the food industry is approved by the USDA and FDA and is also approved for organic certification. The uniqueness of the equipment is that ozone is over 50% more effective than chemicals and over 3,000 times faster acting than chemicals. Ozone is generated from oxygen and is non-toxic.
How ozone destroys pathogens
Ozone eliminates or reduces pathogens by destroying the cell wall. Pathogens cannot develop resistance to ozone as they can to antibiotics, so there is no danger of developing superbugs through the use of ozone.
Organisms destroyed by ozone according to Taggatz include: bacteria, cysts, yeast, viruses, protozoa, algae, fungal pathogens. Ozone is the strongest disinfectant available, and is more than 3,100 times faster than chlorine in killing bacteria.
No harmful by-products
Ozone disinfection produces no harmful by-products. In contrast, chlorine disinfection creates carcinogenic by-products. Ozone dissolved in water completely reverts to regular oxygen within 20 minutes, so there is no residue. For this reason, disinfection must always be accomplished with ozone water fresh and cold from the tap.
Ozone dissolved in water is completely safe and rinsing your hands in ozone water will sanitize better than using any chemicals or soap and water.
