CHEMICAL DOSE INDICATOR FOR TOMATO AND CANTALOUPE

This project is focused on the development and demonstration of a chemical dose indicator (CDI) targeting relevant ClO2 doses which effectively sanitize tomatoand cantaloupe produce. Tomatoes and cantaloupe were chosen because they are large markets, are highly susceptible to microbial infection, and have been approved by EPA and FDA for safe ClO2 treatment. An indicator of this type would enhance food safety tremendously while eliminating huge spoilage losses of fresh produce that occur today. The CDI would serve as visual proof throughout the supply chain that the produce has been exposed to an efficacious dose of ClO2.Objective 1: PerformanceCharacterize performance of CDIs under anticipated field use conditions, and iterate design as necessaryObjective 2: Inoculation StudyDemonstrate ClO2 efficacy and correlated CDI efficacy indication in biological reduction studies on produce using relevant microbes