For the reason that earliest days of the regulated hashish business, corporations have been in a position to provide protected, constant, and dependable client merchandise by means of protecting ozone decontamination know-how. Ozone decontamination is a game-changing preventative resolution inside the business. Current claims concerning the potential dangers of ozone in hashish operations will not be solely unfounded but in addition perpetuate alarmist misinformation in regards to the efficacy of those very important kill-step processes.
Ozone is a strong sanitizer that has been in use by the meals business since 1957, when the US Division of Agriculture (USDA) accredited utilizing the substance in its gaseous kind for the storage of meat. In 1995, ozone was Usually Acknowledged As Protected (GRAS) within the U.S. for the disinfection of bottled water. The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) granted GRAS approval in 2001 for ozone’s use in direct contact with meals merchandise, together with all meat and poultry merchandise, and the USDA adopted by granting GRAS approval for ozone in 2002. Ozone therapy is also beneficial by the U.S. Environmental Safety Company as the simplest wastewater therapy and is used to disinfect gear in manufacturing environments and forestall illness in poultry consuming water.
Ozone, or O3, is a molecule composed of three oxygen atoms. It’s extremely unstable, typically decomposing into the extra widespread type of oxygen, O2. If saved steady, the molecule can be utilized as a potent oxidizing agent. Over time, analysis has confirmed the security and efficacy of ozone therapy. A 2021 research performed at Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle on the Université d’Artois in France examined ozone therapies for preserving recent vegetable high quality and located, when correctly utilized, “ozone avoids and controls organic progress on greens, conserving their enticing look and sensorial qualities, assuring dietary traits’ retention, and sustaining and rising the shelf-life.” A 1999 assessment by researchers at Ohio State College discovered “ozone, within the gaseous or aqueous phases, is efficient in opposition to the vast majority of microorganisms examined by quite a few analysis teams,” and “comparatively low concentrations of ozone and brief contact time are ample to inactivate micro organism, molds, yeasts, parasites, and viruses.” Cultivation companies have turned to ozone decontamination therapies given the molecule’s lengthy historical past of use and efficacy as a decontaminant for water therapy and agricultural disinfection.
The danger of contamination is current at each stage of the cultivation course of, so high quality management is crucial. Many conventional decontamination strategies don’t work on hashish. You’ll be able to’t warmth the biomass and you may’t get it moist, as doing both would dramatically alter the product matrix and the cannabinoid and terpene profiles. Ozone’s confirmed effectiveness in destroying microbes, viruses, and micro organism makes it a pretty therapy possibility for cultivators to get rid of or cut back contaminants.
Regardless of the molecule’s instability, ozone therapy presents many benefits. Ozone processes are inexpensive than different decontamination processes, they use much less vitality, and they’re protected for producers to make use of. Considered one of ozone’s most constructive traits is its pure skill to degrade into oxygen. For that reason, ozone know-how—slightly than warmth pasteurization or different chemical therapies—has turn out to be well-liked in agriculture in addition to varied meals and plant functions. As a result of it quickly breaks again down into oxygen, ozone leaves no residue. Ozone functions are acknowledged as protected and efficient when utilized correctly, and they’re compliant with requirements developed by the FDA, USDA, Occupational Security and Well being Administration (OSHA), Nationwide Sanitation Basis/American Nationwide Requirements Institute (NSF/ANSI) Customary 50, and UL lab requirements.
Ozone decontamination know-how is trusted by a whole lot of world-class cultivators throughout twenty-six states and the worldwide market to securely clear hashish flower, hemp, and trim with out compromising high quality, taste, or impact.
Quite a lot of vetted and scientifically supported decontamination options bolster client and regulatory confidence on this quickly maturing business. Cultivators ought to do their analysis to find out what decontamination course of is best-suited to their wants in addition to their number-one precedence: the well being and security of shoppers.
Jill Ellsworth, MS, RDN, is founder and CEO at decontamination firm Willow Industries. Her patented natural, ozone-based know-how breaks down dangerous microbes with out affecting the plant’s medicinal properties, serving to cultivators provide constantly clear merchandise. She is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the Hashish Certification Council.