FTI REPORT R-10:

ADVANCES IN NONTHERMAL
FOOD PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES

A guide to the latest developments

• Pulsed electric fields

• High hydrostatic pressure

• Light pulses

• Irradiation

• Electron beams

• Steam pasteurization

Why the interest in these techniques? Minimally processed, fresh-like products have become commonplace in the food industry. This is partly the result of consumer demand for high quality, yet minimally processed, additive-free and microbiologically safe foods. In an effort to continue to meet this demand, the industry is developing alternatives to the use of heat preservation to eliminate or reduce levels of bacteria in foods. Heat treatment destroys the functionality and flavors of many foods. Nonthermal processes offer an alternative.

Food Technology Intelligence, Inc., publisher of the newsletters Emerging Food R&D Report and Microbial Update International, has just made available a revised edition of its in-depth report, Advances in Nonthermal Food Processing Technologies, analyzing recent advances in nonthermal processes. The report analyzes their commercial potential and their market availability.

As you know, the bacteria problem is a significant one facing food processors. While the incidence of traditional foodborne diseases, like trichinosis from undercooked pork and botulism from improperly canned foods, seems to be generally on the decline, each year millions of people become sick from disease-causing bacteria or viruses in poultry, shellfish and red meat.

In addition, emerging pathogens represent a major health risk to consumers. E. coli O157:H7 is one such pathogen. Historically, ground beef products have been associated with this type of E. coli, and most current beef burger manufacturing procedures do not adversely affect the survival of the organism.

Information on New Processes

Now you have an opportunity to learn more about a variety of nonthermal food preservation processes, under development at universities, companies and government research labs, that will help you get the microbial problem under better control. This report from Food Technology Intelligence reviews key processes and highlights important information, such as applications, status of development and when the processes will be commercially viable.

You'll also learn how to take advantage of these technologies—through licensing or other collaborative arrangments—so that you can commercialize them before your competitors do. Learn about several processes, including:

• High hydrostatic pressure, in which foods are treated under high pressure, up to 6000 atm, by placing them in a medium, usually water in a thick-walled vessel, and compressing the medium. It will find use with uncooked seafood, fruits and vegetables, jams, jellies, preserves and the like. Collaborations are sought here.

• Electron beams that do not require heat and destroy E. coli O157:H7. The technology focuses around a high-powered accelerator, a cathode ray tube similar to that found in a television set. When the beams hit E. coli, they interact with the microbe's DNA, deactivating it. Industrial collaborations are sought.

• Dielectric heating used in the plywood industry to heat glue between layers of wood. Now scientists are trying to determine whether they can successfully treat alfalfa seeds with this technology to reduce the chance of spreading foodborne disease through the sprouts. The technique may be applicable to meats and seafood. Collaborations are available.

• Extrusion and irradiation—a combination that can kill bacteria in beef products. Investigators found that extrusion cooking produces a beef snack stick with some surviving spores of C. sporogenes in vacuum bags. They added a low dose of irradiation, which killed all the spores that survived the extrusion cooking. Potential users: companies producing vacuum-bagged pre-cooked foods or those freezing ground beef patties to be shipped to fast food outlets. Industrial collaborations possible.

Advances in Nonthermal Food Processing Technologies will help you focus in on strategic developments in the field. This report will help you establish important contacts with key developers of technologies that will keep you ahead of your competitors. Complete and return your order form today.

Advances in Nonthermal Food Processing Technologies, Report R-10, 2005, 125 pp., $250/copy; outside North America add $20/copy for postage and handling. New Jersey orders add 6% sales tax. Also available electronically; contact publisher for details.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
   Perspective
   Scope and Methodology
   Thermal Processing Not
      Always Appropriate
   General Bacteria of Concern
   Impact
   Current Processes
   Challenges and the Need
      for Alternatives
   

2. ANALYSIS OF NEW
   TECHNOLOGIES
   High Hydrostatic Pressure
   Irradiation
   Electron Beams
   Lasers
   Ozone
   Nontraditional Ohmic Heating
   Microwaves
   Radio Frequency-based Energy
   Microbiological Criteria
   Ultraviolet Radiation
   Pulsed Electric Fields
   Electrolyzed Water
   Steam Condensation and
      Pasteurization
   Hurdle Technology
   Electrochemical Technology
   Electrical Sourcing
   Bacteriocins
   Combined Treatments
   Hydrogen Peroxide
   Lactoferrin
   

3. FOR FURTHER READING

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