Cool pasteurisation is hot news at Anuga Food Tec

The most significant addition to food and beverage processing technologies at Anuga Food Tec would have to be cold pasteurisation. This year there are quite a few companies exhibiting high-pressure processing technologies. They use high pressures to disrupt microbial contaminants and so achieve high levels of sterility and longer shelf lives without having to use traditional pasteurisation techniques or adding preservatives.

As no heat is applied to the products, the taste profile is very similar to the fresh product.

The technology is already in use in Australia where the Preshafruit range of apple juices and juice blends was the world’s first cold-pressurised fruit juice. The juices are available nationally in the major supermarket chains.

Queensland based, Pressure Fresh Australia is also using this technology to produce a range of fruit, vegetable and herb products.

Some of the companies exhibiting this technology at Anuga are Multivac (in partnership), Avure (USA) and Hiperbaric (Spain). All of these companies were generating a lot of interest from visitors attending the show.

It was rather nice to feel a little smug and say, “Oh, we’ve had these products on the shelves for years in Australia.”

Dutch company, CoolWave Processing launched a new mild preservation technology for juices and other pumpable liquid foods and beverages. The company is claiming a 21-day shelf life for juices processed using its PurePulse technology. This industrial pulsed electric field technology is claimed to achieve up to 6-log reductions of microorganisms without ever exceeding 50°C in an inline cold pasteurisation process. 600, 1200 and 1800 L/h units are available.

By Janette Woodhouse