Food processors could find themselves under new constraints in how they use chemicals for cleaning in their plants, as an international project to set global standards for the use of active chlorine in food production and processing gets underway.

The research is being funded through the Food and Agriculturial Organisation and the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the request of Codex.

The project's recommendations will eventually feed into future decisions by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a UN body charged with setting international food safety standards for member countries.

The project will consider the risk of chemical residues in products affecting human health, compared to the benefits of using active chlorine to lower the risk of pathogen contamination in foods.

‘The efficacy of active chlorine treatment needs to be considered, taking into account different treatment scenarios, different chlorine-containing substances and different pathogens and pathogen and food combinations’, the WHO said, introducing the project. "These considerations need to be based on current practices, as well as take into account proposed new practices, including the relevance and feasibility of potential alternative approaches."

The term active chlorine’ refers to aqueous solutions of hypochlorous acid and its base, hypochlorite ion, chlorous acid and its base of chlorite ion, chlorine gas or chlorine dioxide.

The study may also review chloramine and dichloroisocyanurate if they find it is used widely in the food processing industry.