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Although it offers growth opportunities, many firms see investing in new food-processing methods as risky. Reasons include a lack of resources or insufficient knowledge to integrate such technologies.
The EU-funded I3-FOOD project drew up roadmaps to analyse barriers to market entry and application possibilities for the three technologies, all of which save time, are energy-efficient and have strong industrial potential.
Pulsed electric field preservation (PEF) kills microbes while preserving freshness; high pressure thermal sterilisation (HPTS) reduces the impact of heat treatment on product quality; and low shear extrusion (LSE) controls the size of ice crystals and air bubbles for creamier chilled and frozen products. All three technologies were assessed during processing of suitable products: fruit juice for PEF, ready meals for HPTS and ice cream for LSE.
The project developed sensors to allow parameters such as temperature to be continuously monitored online during treatment. This was underpinned by the formulation of systematic approaches to preventing contamination based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system for reducing risks in food.
Open workshops attended by representatives of 48 institutions from around the world and demonstration days at which 15 firms applied the technologies to their products showcased the benefits of the systems, and this approach is now bearing fruit.‘For LSE, we continue to hear from SMEs expressing interest in further trials,’ says project coordinator Peter Holl of the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL). ‘We are also continuing the collaboration to promote LSE and make it more economical, and to optimise the sensors.’
Holl adds that I3-FOOD has contributed to the installation of three PEF systems, the filing of three patents and a development of national significance in Germany.
‘ThyssenKrupp/Uhde High Pressure Technologies is building Germany’s largest centre for high-pressure food treatment at DIL, with capacity to process 26 tonnes of food a day,’ he says. ‘HPTS will be part of that service, based on the high-pressure temperature sensor developed under I3-FOOD.’