About Clēan Works

In 2012, Clēan Works became a joint venture between Moyer’s Apple Products and Court Holdings Ltd.

Paul Moyer, of Moyer’s Apple Products, is a fruit farmer from the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario, whose family has been farming in the area since 1799. Moyer’s brings the grassroots understanding of the produce business and the drive to solve real-world problems for the industry.

Moyer’s Apple Products was recognized as an innovator when the team was awarded the 2017 Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence from the Government of Ontario. The team invented the Clēan Batch process, which kills harmful pathogens and mold. The process was validated by the Food Science Department at the University of Guelph, which is a leading agricultural and agri-food institution.

Since then, the team has developed a continuous flow process, known as Clēan Flow, using a strict combination of UV light, hydrogen peroxide, and ozone to decontaminate produce. Clēan Works’ dramatic innovation has moved from the lab to the market as farmers, processors, and retailers learn more about the remarkable sanitizer.

Court Holdings, a global manufacturer with a focus on innovation, brings the know-how to design processes and scale production.

Where Clēan Works Began: Eliminating Listeria

In 2015, a Listeria outbreak significantly impacted the caramel apple industry. Moyer’s Apple Products, which has been making candy apples since 1990, needed a solution.

Moyer’s developed an ozone treatment, which could be applied individually or sequentially, to inactivate microbes (including pathogens), on the surface and subsurface of fresh produce. The treatment was developed as an alternative to post-harvest washing, which provides limited and unpredictable decontamination efficacy.

By working ozone into the treatment, it is possible to achieve a more effective and consistent process with the added advantage of continuous monitoring of critical limits.

We won the 2019 International Association for Food Protection Food Safety Innovation Award.

Clēan Works: Our Products

Clēan Verification is a decontamination treatment and alternative to traditional post-harvest washing, the latter of which provides limited and unpredictable decontamination efficacy. Post-harvest washing was once considered decontamination but is now understood to be a high-risk cross-contamination point.

Our products clean produce in two ways: The Clēan Batch process blows ozonated air through a chamber, achieving consistent sterilization from the top of the bin to the bottom. The Clēan Flow process uses light, a gentle mist and ozone to cleanse produce as it passes under a conveyor hood.

Combine both processes to eliminate up to 99.99% of pathogens and food-spoiling organisms, including:

  • Clostridium Botulinum

  • Shigella

  • Mold

  • E. Coli

  • Listeria

  • Mildew

  • Salmonella

  • Hepatitis A

  • Rot

The Clēan Batch and Clēan Flow processes use no water, preventing a scientifically proven source of cross-contamination and eliminating an ongoing cost to operations.
Clēan Verification can be done at any step of the fresh produce supply chain, from grower to retailer, and on all kinds of produce, from apples to zucchini. It can also be used to decontaminate the bins and containers used for transport and storage.
Our process uses three natural ingredients: a component found in sunlight, the chemical responsible for that fresh smell after a thunderstorm, and the antiseptic grandma used on your cuts. All of them have been FDA-approved.
Our patented forced-air batch system offers consistent decontamination from the top to the bottom of the bin. Our flow process can even decontaminate below the skin of your produce.

Clēan Verification kills molds and mildews and eliminates rot, which will significantly extend the shelf life of produce by 25% or more.

Clēan Verification leaves nothing behind but water and oxygen. There are no by-products on your produce—nothing to taste or smell but the produce itself.
Conveyor and batch processes integrate with your operations, for example, grading, drying or pre-cooling, and are reliably scalable from the small farm to the industrial processor.
Clēan Verification systems cost less than the water wash system you currently use. Equipment and materials are managed for you by Clēan Works for convenience and quality control.
Results are continuously monitored and documented for transparency to your customers.

No other UV or ozone system in use or in development offers the scientifically confirmed decontamination results that Clēan Flow and Clēan Batch offer.