Food & Climate
Some food industry experts have recommended the use of ozone gas in the Egyptian date industry, as it can eliminate the most significant problems facing the industry naturally and without chemical pollution: insects.
Dr. Ashraf Mahdi Shoruba, professor of food industries at the Faculty of Agriculture in Moshtohor, Benha University, said that modern technologies in food processing and the date industry are very important, including ozone technology.
He explained that the biggest problem facing the food industry is insects. Ozone has a direct impact on product processing, decomposes naturally, is a cheap, environmentally friendly material, and ozone units can be easily manufactured and are produced worldwide.
This came during a symposium held by the Egyptian Chamber of Food Industries at the Federation of Egyptian Industries under the title: “The Date Industry: Between Reality and Hope,” according to a statement received by “Food & Climate” platform today, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
Shoruba continued, stating that all authorities have permitted the use of ozone gas and confirmed its safety in the food industry. It was approved for use worldwide in 2001, as one of the most appropriate methods for eliminating bacteria, germs, and fungi.
He said, “Compared to chemical methods, ozone gas is cheaper, more efficient, and healthier. That’s why we began using it in certain units and achieved significant results, especially in fish, poultry, and meat products.”
He added that there is a need to rely on correct methods in date production, due to the unsuitability of current methods. Ozone has been successfully tested in the fish, poultry, and fruit industries. Numerous scientific studies have proven that it increases shelf life without the use of chemicals.
He continued, “We have conducted successful experiments using ozone in grains, wheat, and milling. We were able to completely eliminate impurities and achieve positive benefits in disinfection, especially in warehouses, floors, and all equipment.”
The Egyptian Date Industry Doesn’t Keep Up with Production Volume
Despite being the world’s largest producer, the Egyptian date industry and its exports do not live up to this productivity level, according to Dr. Maysa Hamza, Executive Director of the Chamber of Food Industries. She stated during a seminar at the Chamber that Egypt produces 1.87 million tons of dates annually, equivalent to 19.3% of global production, followed by Saudi Arabia with 1.64 million tons.
The value of Egyptian date exports reached approximately $105.6 million in 2024.
She indicated that the global date market is expected to reach $18.76 billion by 2029, with an annual growth rate.
The Executive Director of the Food Industries Technology and Agricultural Processing Center at the Ministry of Industry, Dr. Amgad El-Qady, explained the strategy for expanding the cultivation of the best varieties for export.
Egypt is home to 7 million palm trees of all varieties, led by the Toshka Farm, which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest palm farm in the world.
El-Qady called for addressing the challenges facing the Egyptian date industry, which include the high rate of waste due to poor value and quality. He also called for preserving date quality by improving the efficiency of refrigeration and refrigerated transportation, adopting advanced methods for date delivery, sorting, washing, and drying, and for general storage, packaging, and packaging.
The Director of Food Industries Technology and Agricultural Processing stated that dates contribute to achieving food security due to their high nutritional value. They can be processed in many ways, making them an integral part of the processing industry.
He recommended that the Egyptian date industry shift to producing several other products, such as liquid sugar, molasses, date honey, and packaging dried date powder as a sugar substitute used as a sweetener.
He revealed experiments in its use in baby food, dairy products, school nutrition, sweetened meals, and the manufacture of date pit oil. He also revealed the production of more than 30 date products that cover basic nutritional needs.
Developing Packaging
Dr. Mustafa Asous, Director of the Central Palm Laboratory, called for developing Egyptian date manufacturing methods, from the receiving process to packaging, in accordance with quality and safety standards. These standards include visual inspection, color, texture, impurity levels, insect inspection, and moisture content. He emphasized the need for pricing to be determined in accordance with product quality and safety. He emphasized the importance of paying attention to initial sorting by removing impurities from low-quality, deformed, and soil-contaminated fruits, as well as removing fruit infested with insects. This reduces the rate of loss and improves fruit quality.
He emphasized the importance of using methods to eliminate pests and insect infestations, including fumigation, ozone, and radiation, to eliminate insects and their stages, “all of which are 100% successful,” in addition to freezing, which is a future alternative.
He explained the importance of the storage stage, saying, “Semi-dry dates should be stored at a temperature below 10 degrees Celsius until the manufacturing process is completed. It is preferable not to mix other varieties in the same storage refrigerator.
Washing using water treated with iron and manganese, washing with brushes is the ideal method, as is washing with sprays and compressed air, using a vibrator after washing to reduce the amount of wash water on the fruit, and measuring the moisture content at the end of the washing stage. Washing plays a significant role in maintaining quality.”
He stressed the need to provide a simplified analysis laboratory in any factory for insect, chemical and microbiological testing and to determine the extent to which the product meets specifications.
Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive gas composed of three oxygen atoms. It is both a natural and a man-made product that occurs in the Earth’s upper atmosphere., ozone molecule (the stratosphere) and lower atmosphere (the troposphere). Depending on where it is in the atmosphere, ozone affects life on Earth in either good or bad ways, according to “EPA“.
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