An official website of the United States government.
Develop and evaluate methods of reducing microorganisms on the surface peel of fresh packed oranges to a 5-log reduction level, that can be sustained in the fresh juice for a 1-3 days shelf-life. These techniques will result in a high quality and safe fresh squeezed orange juice product.
APPROACH: Design protocol, including treating fruit prior to entering or in juicer with steam or hot water, a sanitizer, light or some combination for surface sterilization.
<P>
Fresh squeezed, non-pasteurized orange juice is considered an important part of Florida's fresh citrus market for several years. Because of some pathogen problems in the past with fresh- squeezed juicers, the FDA regulations now state that a 5 log reduction of organisms before and after juicing must be achieved or the juice must bear a warning on the label of possible food pathogens. This has hurt the industry. At CSPL we are using a new style juicer to test and create a protocol for cleaning and testing the machine both before use at the start of the day and between batches. This work has just begun but preliminary results show that with careful cleaning of the fruit and cleaning the juicer in several defined areas, this reduction is possible. Protocols for testing for contamination after the machine has been 'cleaned' are also being proposed.