EU research to develop technology for sustainable organic food production
In line with the belief that we are what we eat, organic food has become a billion euro industry as consumers increasingly choose to put their wallet where their health is and 'go organic'. The QualityLowInputFood (QLIF) project, funded under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), aims to develop higher-quality, safer and cheaper organic foods to meet the growing demand for more natural, healthier foods, produced using fewer chemicals and additives. With 31 partners from 15 different countries, the project's research area covers the entire production chain from farm to fork, including meat production. The project is also studying consumer attitudes to, and their expectations of, food sporting the organic label. One part of the huge, wide ranging €18 million project focuses on finding an ecological alternative to washing fresh vegetables, involving the study of lettuce bathed in ozonised water, instead of chlorine. Chlorine is used in intensive food production systems but prohibited in organic food production. 'We don't use a chlorine wash in Finland but the Brits do it to such an extent that even their lettuce smells of chlorine, which they associate with freshness,' says Marjo Särkkä-Tirkkonen from University of Helsinki, who is responsible for this part of the study and project. 'Ozone is one alternative to chlorine that is worth paying attention to. It could be a good substitute because it breaks down into oxygen during the process, and it leaves no residue that can be transferred to people or carried into the environment. Like chlorine, ozone reduces the amount of microbes in vegetables, thus preserving them for as long as 10 to 12 days. Fresh-cut vegetables and root vegetables go off very easily,' she explained. Ozone would provide many ecological benefits, but also presents problems. As it is quite poisonous, only tiny amounts can be allowed to enter the processing area. 'We aim to find out the optimum amount of ozone needed for as short a wash as possible, so that products in the wash are in a continuous and closed process line. Ozone is such a reactive substance that it is really difficult to measure the effect of a specific amount, and stabilising it is especially problematic. Organic substances quickly use up the ozone in wash water,' says Dr Särkkä-Tirkkonen. The test vegetable used is iceberg lettuce, and according to the project partners, it has withstood the tests very well: 'This vegetable has a highly sensitive cell structure and we were worried it would not survive being treated with ozone, and would have, for example, a colour defect. But it never happened. This looks promising in the sense that ozone washing may be used for more durable vegetables like courgettes and tomatoes.' In principle, ozone washing is an old technology, used now, for example, to purify water in swimming pools so that visitors can no longer smell chlorine, or in washing machines to remove odours and microbes. However as far as foodstuffs are concerned, ozone is a relatively new technology in Europe. Before it can fully enter the market, more tests will need to carried out, and in spring 2007, the project will see more pilot ozone tests, this time on an industrial scale. If the process proves successful, it could be applied to everyday foodstuffs and its use will spread according to Dr Särkkä-Tirkkonen. Even conventional mass produced food systems could adopt this more environmentally friendly food production process.
Countries
Finland