The organisms that drive risk here
- Campylobacter — the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in many markets, overwhelmingly poultry-associated
- Salmonella — regulatory performance standards apply directly
- Listeria — in further-processing and ready-to-eat operations
Controlling these is not primarily a chemistry problem — it is a consistency problem. The chemistry that fails an audit is almost never the chemistry that was specified; it is the chemistry as actually mixed, at the concentration actually present, on the schedule actually followed. Onsite generation removes the largest single variable by producing the solution at a set concentration every time.
Where it is used
- Chiller water treatment and maintenance of free chlorine residual
- Carcass spray wash at 50–100 ppm
- Egg surface washing within permitted limits
- Hatchery and breeder house sanitation
- Equipment, shackle line and crate washing
- House and environmental fogging between flocks
What it replaces
- High-concentration chlorine in chiller water
- Peracetic acid, with its PPE, monitoring and corrosion burden
- Trisodium phosphate treatments
The honest position: none of these products are useless, and each has applications where it remains the right choice. What changes with onsite generation is the default — the bulk of routine sanitation moves to a chemistry that is cheaper per litre, safer to handle, gentler on equipment and impossible to run out of.
Compliance and audit position
- USDA FSIS performance standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter
- Permitted antimicrobial intervention limits in poultry processing
- HACCP monitoring and verification records
- Egg handling and washing regulations by jurisdiction
Full citations and downloadable material are on the regulations page, and the sector-specific research citations are collected in the research hub.
Where the money comes from
- Prevalence reduction against performance standards, which is the metric that carries commercial consequence
- Lower corrosion cost on chiller and line equipment than PAA
- Reduced worker exposure and associated monitoring obligations
- Onsite generation at the volumes poultry consumes is where the payback is fastest
White paper
Onsite Hypochlorous Acid in Broiler Production sets out what the research shows on water-line hygiene, feed conversion, mortality and house ammonia — including the results that do not support a claim — alongside field results from a Pilgrim’s Pride grower using EcoloxTech systems since 2023, and a break-even cost model for a four-house farm. Open the paper or download the PDF.
Implementation SOP
The written procedure for this sector, in sequence:
- Establish and monitor the chiller free chlorine residual continuously
- Set spray-wash concentration for the intervention point
- Sanitise equipment and crates on the defined cycle
- Fog houses between flocks after cleaning
- Verify concentration at multiple points along the line
- Trend against your Salmonella and Campylobacter performance data
The step everyone skips
Precleaning. Hypochlorous acid is an oxidiser, and oxidiser consumed by organic soil is not available to kill anything. A programme that sanitises dirty surfaces will underperform regardless of what the label says.
Questions
Which system do we need for a poultry & eggs operation?
It depends on daily volume and peak draw rather than on facility size. Most single-site operations in this sector are served by the EcoloxTech 300; multi-line and high-volume operations move to the EcoloxTech 1200 with buffer storage.
Do we need the EPA-registered product as well?
If your protocol, auditor, insurer or regulator specifies an EPA-registered disinfectant, then yes — HOCl-AS200, Reg. No. 101112-1. Many sites run both: generated solution for volume cleaning and sanitising, registered product where the claim must be on a label.
How do we prove it works to an auditor?
Baseline environmental swabs before implementation, the same swabs afterwards, concentration verification records, and the citation pack from our research hub. That combination is evidence rather than assertion.
What is the payback period?
It depends on your current chemical spend and volume, but most commercial installations in this sector recover the equipment cost inside the first two years, and often considerably sooner once the second-order savings are counted.
The seven-part programme
Pathogens — Poultry & Eggs
The organisms that actually drive risk in this sector, what makes each one hard, and where HOCl fits in controlling them.
ReadApplications — Poultry & Eggs
Every point in the operation where generated hypochlorous acid does useful work, with the concentration each one calls for.
Readvs. Chemicals — Poultry & Eggs
An honest comparison against the quats, chlorine and peracetic acid programmes this typically replaces — including where they still win.
ReadCompliance & Audits — Poultry & Eggs
The regulations, standards and audit criteria that apply, and the documentation that satisfies them.
ReadROI & Savings — Poultry & Eggs
Where the money actually comes from, including the second-order savings buyers routinely underestimate.
ReadImplementation & SOP — Poultry & Eggs
A written standard operating procedure: sequence, concentrations, contact times, verification and records.
Read