Facilitators and Barriers to the Implementation of Waterless Nonthermal Technologies to Enhance Food Safety in the Produce Industry

Nonthermal technologies offer important solutions to urgent food safety problems. Our project team researched and developed three technologies, cold plasma, photo-inactivating lights, and gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2), as potential solutions to the industry's ongoing food safety concerns. In 2022, the research team hosted an annual stakeholder meeting to receive feedback on the technology developed and assess facilitators and barriers to implementation. The meeting took place virtually using Zoom; three technology-specific presentations and one outreach-focused presentation were delivered. Participants were divided into pre-assigned breakout rooms after a brief opportunity for questions and answers. Breakout sessions were recorded, transcribed, and edited for clarity by two independent coders. The transcripts revealed several themes about the adaptability of the technology, the cost of implementation, the knowledge base of stakeholders, and regulatory issues. Technology adaptability was the most significant theme throughout the sessions, revealing no one-size-fits-all solution to food safety. Cold plasma and ClO2 had the most mentions of adaptability, which showed the multiple use cases for the technologies. More importantly, for these technologies to have the best outcome in improving food safety, a diverse population of stakeholders needs to be engaged.