PrepWorld: Accurate PAA Dosing in Red/Turbid Wash Water at 24/7 Scale

PrepWorld uses Palintest Kemio to deliver 1-minute, numerical PAA results in discolored/turbid water, supporting BRCGS Food Safety AA+ compliance and 24/7 throughput.

Customer Overview

Customer: PrepWorld

Industry: Pre-packaged fruit manufacturing

Location: Northfleet, UK

Operations: Supplies UK grocery stores and restaurants; produces items from pomegranate seeds to cantaloupe under strict food-industry regulations.

Certification: BRCGS Food Safety (AA+)

Challenge

To ensure food safety, PrepWorld must wash fruit and verify correct peracetic acid (PAA) dosing in wash water.

 Legacy method – titration drop kits:

• Multi-step, reagent-dependent process (sample scoop → syringe transfer → reagents → dissolve tablet → titrate with sodium thiosulfate until clear → count drops to infer PAA).
• Requires visually clear water (endpoint detection).
• 2–3 minutes per test and uses multiple consumables.

Pomegranate lines:

• Pomegranate seeds turn wash water red, making titration unusable because the endpoint relies on visual clarity.
• In the past, PrepWorld would have to change the wash water every ~2 hours purely to enable manual titration testing.
• Each water change takes ~30 minutes (dispose old water, refill, circulate), interrupting production.

Risk focus:

• Underdose (primary risk): Insufficient disinfection → product safety cannot be ensured.
• Overdose (secondary risk): Less harmful to safety but can affect taste and color.

Solution

PrepWorld adopted the Palintest Kemio electrochemical water testing system with PAA sensors on its two pomegranate washing lines. They have relied on Kemio for three years, especially where wash water is discolored or turbid.

Kemio workflow (~1 minute):

• Sample wash water from the line into Kemio.
• Insert the PAA sensor and close the lid.
• Kemio provides a numerical PAA concentration in about one minute.

Key capability: Kemio measures accurately in colored/turbid matrices, eliminating the need to change water merely to run tests.

Implementation

• Operations footprint: Three pomegranate processing machines feed two washing lines (Kemio deployed on both lines).
• Utilization: 24/7 operations, 3×8-hour shifts, processing 10+ tons of pomegranates in 24 hours.
• Hygiene team adoption: Quick training on sampling, sensor handling, and device logging.
• Data & traceability: Kemio stores test data, enabling audit-ready records aligned to BRCGS Food Safety (AA+) requirements.
• Supply chain: Manufacturer — Palintest (UK); Distributor — Kersia (PrepWorld sources Kemio devices, service, chemicals, and support via Kersia).

Results

Uptime Gains & Efficiency

• Testing time per sample: from 2–3 minutes (titration) to ~1 minute (Kemio).
• No mid-shift water changes for visibility:
• If titration were used, each line would need water changes every ~2 hours, 30 minutes per change.
• In an 8-hour shift, that’s up to 4 changes → ~120 minutes downtime per line.
• Across two lines, that’s ~240 minutes (4 hours) avoided per shift.
• Across three shifts/day, ~12 hours/day of avoided downtime.

Quality & Safety Control

• Primary risk (underdose) mitigation: Kemio’s rapid, numerical output enables timely dose correction to maintain disinfection standards.
• Secondary risk (overdose) management: Visibility into concentration helps prevent taste/color impact while maintaining safety margins.

Compliance & Traceability

• Data logging: On-device storage supports BRCGS Food Safety AA+ audits and internal QA records.
• Consistency: Reduces human error inherent in multi-step titration and visual endpoints.

Operator Experience

• Hygiene team values Kemio’s compact size, battery life, speed, simple step-by-step instructions, and clear numeric results.

Growth Enablement

• Over the last five years of strong demand, Kemio has supported scaling throughput by removing reagent complexity and eliminating water-change interruptions in the pomegranate lines.

Why It Worked

• Matrix independence: Electrochemical measurement that doesn’t rely on visual clarity, ideal for red/turbid wash water.
• Speed & simplicity: One-minute test, fewer consumables, streamlined SOPs.
• Audit-ready data: Built-in traceability to satisfy BRCGS Food Safety standards.
• Fit for 24/7 scale: Reliable testing that aligns with high-throughput operations.