Method for pasteurization of food

Food safety is a global issue because intoxications caused by insufficient control of microorganism proliferation are frequent. High temperature pasteurization/sterilization is one of the most common techniques used to contrast the presence of harmful bacteria but it cannot be used on all types of food. For example, fresh products such as meat, fish, fruits and vegetables when subject to heat, will cook, losing their freshness and many of the beneficial molecules such as vitamins and antioxidant compounds. Fresh food can also decay because of the enzymes naturally present on their surface.
Such products have a very limited shelf life.
Current mitigation techniques are carried out mainly on whole or cut products and are implemented before packaging but do not solve problems and risks caused by the further post-process handling necessary for sale and commercialization.

The patented technology:

• reduces the risk of bacterial contamination.
• increases the duration of shelf life by contrasting the proliferation of naturally present bacteria. The process uses a temperature lower than 45°C so that all nutritional and sensorial characteristics of the original product are preserved The process is carried out with the product already inside its packaging, which eliminates  the problems due to post-process handling and packaging of conventional bacterial proliferation mitigation techniques.

The effectiveness in the inhibition of microorganisms by CO₂ in the supercritical state is widely demonstrated and finds application here within an industrial process of already packaged fresh foods. This new process, requires that after packaging foods with a CO₂-rich mixture that acts on the surface of the food, the package is subsequently brought to the supercritical state at temperatures close to ambient (up to a maximum of 50°C) by pumping a service liquid/fluid (water) into which the products are placed. This preserves temperature-sensitive molecules of fresh foods, maintaining their structure, and extending their shelf-life by at least 20%. Specific tests have been carried out, for example, with “baby” carrots, fruit salad, cooked spinach, ready meals, pasteurized eggs, cheese, and raw or cooked animal products (chicken breast slices, ham) to verify the preservation of organoleptic properties in addition to shelf-life extension.

Legislative analyses were conducted to verify the Barriers to Market Entry for  the technology with current regulations (). In fact, CO₂, an odorless and nontoxic gas, is GRAS “Generally recognized as safe” by the FDA.

Along with process optimization, a careful evaluation of the most suitable type of packaging for the process, which must also be recyclable, is ongoing. Plant production and sales costs are comparable to those of traditional pasteurization plants.

In collaboration with several large Italian food companies and small organic companies, trials are ongoing to increase the efficiency of the process in addition to experimenting a greater range of foods to which the process  optimally applies.

Experimentation is in progress on small-scale plants (4-6 litres) and on a semi-industrial plant of about 90 litres that can process large quantities of product (200-500g per package) on a large scale (more than 50 packages). Current TRL is 5. Negotiations with investment funds are underway to develop a business plan that can lead to the construction of plants suitable for market use, to achieve a TRL of 6.