Food and Beverage
Little Leaf Farms Overpowers Algae. 2019
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| Little Leaf Farms grows lettuce greens year-round in a protective greenhouse located in Devens, MA. Little Leaf received a grant from the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) to evaluate an effective approach to cleaning their growing gutters without using chemicals. Unwanted algae was growing in the gutters in which the lettuce is grown, and the algae needed to be cleaned out before the next lettuce-growing cycle. TURI partnered with Boce Zhang, Assistant Professor of Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences at UMass Lowell, to perform a scientific study evaluating a high-pressure washer to do the job. Professor Zhang and his team of students were able to validate the cleaning capacity of the washer and recommend a minimum temperature for its use. Download PDF file (414.94 kB) |
Fat Moon Mushrooms replaces bleach with safer sanitizer. 2020
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| Fat Moon Mushrooms grows mushrooms for distribution to restaurants, farm stands, and small grocery stores in the Northeast region of Massachusetts. Due to the nature of the product and the growing process, unwanted mold and bacteria contaminate the plastic sheeting hanging on the walls of the grow room. With help from the TURI cleaning lab, Fat Moon chose to switch their sanitizer from bleach to a product generated from a salt mixture dissolved in water and electrochemically activated to create a hypochlorous acid solution. Download PDF file (402.04 kB) |
Lean Manufacturing Implementation at Food & Beverage Processing and Manufacturing Facilities 2021
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| This compendium presents case examples of food & beverage facility achievements in pollution prevention by implementing lean manufacturing techniques. The compendium was supported by a grant from a Region 1 EPA Healthy Communities Grant (Lean Manufacturing and Pollution Prevention in the Food and Beverage Sector for Healthy Communities, Grant ID Number HC-00A00550-0. The participation of the companies and the support of EPA is greatly appreciated Download PDF file (714.68 kB) |