Dow Microbial Control, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) today released new data from several studies that further demonstrate the efficacy of Dow Advanced Oxidation System (AOS) Certified Whole Room Sanitization (WRS) technology for food processing and packaging environments.

AOS Certified WRS is a sustainable sanitization solution capable of reducing and controlling pathogens on surfaces and in the air. The system creates ozone vapor on demand using ambient air and water, eliminating the need to ship and store chemicals. AOS Certified WRS fills the atmosphere with a non-condensing ozone humidity that infiltrates even difficult-to-reach areas that conventional sanitation methods often miss.

Dow Microbial Control unveiled AOS Certified WRS roughly one year ago, at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting in Charlotte, N.C. Since that time, the company has commercialized the technology and succeeded in providing effective microbial control in a number of food processing environments.

In addition, three recent studies have validated AOS Certified WRS’ ability to effectively control harmful pathogens, including Listeria, E. coli and Lactobacillus. Findings include:

  • During a field trial in a smoked fish packaging facility, AOS Certified WRS treatments reduced the rate of Listeria positives on environmental surfaces from 12 percent to 0.4 percent over an 11-week period.
  • AOS Certified WRS reduced Lactobacillus and E. coli inoculated on agar plates during two separate laboratory studies. In both cases, results were measured after a single whole room ozone treatment.

“AOS Certified WRS fills a gap that many food manufacturers face today as they seek to reduce their risk of contamination and adhere to increasingly stringent regulatory requirements,” said Phil Cassidy, Technical Director at Dawnfresh Seafoods, one of the U.K.’s largest producers of fish and seafood. “Dow's system goes deep into every corner of a facility, even penetrating drains and hidden spaces in equipment. During a recent trial at one of our seafood processing locations, we experienced remarkable results using Dow’s ozone treatments as a supplement to our traditional sanitization methods.”

Food producers with wet or dry facilities can rely on the powerful sanitization effects of AOS Certified WRS knowing that the technology is sustainable. And because the ozone vapor is produced on demand using just air and water, there are no chemical purchases required. Every treatment is monitored in real time and certified by Dow, with standardized reports and data for audit purposes.

“AOS Certified WRS is a primary example of Dow’s commitment to sustainable microbial control solutions,” said Mark Henning, Global Business Director at Dow Microbial Control. “The system does its job — protecting against harmful pathogens — and then fully dissipates without harming the environment, the workers or the community.”

Learn more about AOS Certified WRS online at dowaos.com/resources or in person at the 2014 IAFP Annual Meeting (Booth 522), Aug. 3-6 in Indianapolis.

About Dow Microbial Control

Dow Microbial Control innovates with science and technology to provide long-term viable and sustainable microbial control. Our comprehensive global offering provides customers with solutions to optimize formulations, including high performing and technically supported selection of registered actives and products. With world-class people organization-wide and a broad portfolio of microbial control technologies, Dow Microbial Control can help solve most any microbial control problem. From specialty and highly regulated to non-regulated, the company has the experience and essentials for more sustainable microbial protection for products and processes. Visit http://www.dowmicrobialcontrol.com.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemicals, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2013, Dow had annual sales of more than $57 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 products are manufactured at 201 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.