The diverse food safety issues facing developed countries require innovations to current food safety intervention technologies and chemistries. Several innovations have been made to highly efficacious treatments, such as chlorine dioxide (ClO2). However, many of the innovations stop short of evaluating actual yield, practical feasibility, or basic chemistry of the technology. In this study, our aim was to evaluate ClO2 precursors, sodium chlorite and citric acid, under disparate but applicable conditions. First, we modeled production of ClO2 from the powdered precursors with three different masses, sample ID 1, 2, and 3, at room (18 °C) and refrigeration (2 °C) temperatures. Second, we investigated the effects of a water reservoir on ClO2 production. Third, we assessed collection method issues that may impact reported ClO2 values. Finally, we evaluated the precursor's efficacy against three common foodborne pathogens: Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes on a glass surface between 15- to 60-min treatment times. Over 25 h the precursors produced between 1.87- to 37.76- and 0.87- to 4.19-mg ClO2 under 18 and 2 °C, respectively, demonstrating that low temperatures reduced ClO2 reported yield. Peak rates of production at 18 °C were estimated to be 3.51 mg/h, 3.83 mg/h, and 4.78 mg/h for sample ID 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Modeling the rate of production indicated that sample IDs had significantly (p < 0.0065) different rates of production, with sample ID 1 having the quickest production rate. Under 2 °C, these rates were <1 mg/h of all masses tested and did not follow the same production pattern observed at 18 °C. Under controlled conditions, availability of a water reservoir significantly increased ClO2 production by >15 fold. We also determined that the reservoir placement could affect reported ClO2 concentrations. At the same time, ClO2 was able to reduce all three pathogens in <45 min by >6-log10 CFU/carrier and performed significantly better at refrigeration temperature compared to room temperature.