A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry March 1995
Contents: Raw materials - the impact of biotechnology on food crops | New labelling requirements for cheese | Chlorine and drinking water | Safe food handling | Self-serve salad bars
Chlorine and drinking water
Water quality is an important factor in all aspects of food processing. Chlorination remains the preferred method of disinfection of water for use in food processing operations including washing, cooling and sanitising procedures.
Water is also an ingredient in many foods. A frequent cause of contamination in foods to which water has been added results from the reaction of phenolic compounds with heavily chlorinated mains water, the phenols being introduced as in-plant contaminants. At some concentrations aqueous chlorine solutions can react spontaneously with simple phenols to produce chlorophenol compounds with intense disinfectant-like flavours.
In the United States and Canada and also in the European Community, concern about the impact thatthe by-products of chlorination may have on the safety of water supplies is growing and may lead to changes in legislation.
However in the United States the American Medical Association, the American Chemical Society and the Society of Toxicology have all urged the Environmental Protection Agency to assess toxicity on a "chemical-by-chemical basis". They recommend that as all chlorinated compounds are not equally hazardous, studies should concentrate on those compounds which are of most concern.
In Australia the National Health and Medical Research Council is drafting new guidelines for Australian drinking water.
Food Science Australia
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