Cincinnati - Imagine opening up your refrigerator, taking out month-old ground beef and finding it not only safe to eat, but just as tasty as the day it was packaged.
That's exactly what some researchers and food manufacturers say is possible as a result of a food processing technology that uses hydrostatic pressure to preserve perishable foods.
"The beauty of this process is that it kills disease-causing microbes such as E. coli and salmonella, but it doesn't require the preservatives or heat used in more traditional preservation methods like freezing and canning," said Sam Huttenbauer Jr., chief executive officer of High Pressure Research Inc. "As a result, it doesn't hurt the flavor or take away nutrients and the shelf life of products is extended."
After about nine years of research and two years of testing products for the military, Huttenbauer's Cincinnati-based company is set to begin producing and marketing high-pressure foods commercially in grocery stores later this summer.
Since the company's production facilities are at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Huttenbauer said the initial focus would be on food produced in that region, including seafood, yogurt, fruit and salsa.
Daniel Farkas, head of the food science and technology department at Oregon State and a consultant to Huttenbauer's company, said the high-pressure process is relatively simple.
"You place fresh, packaged food in a water-filled chamber and subject it to pressure between 50,000 and 100,000 pounds of hydrostatic pressure per square inch," Farkas said. "The high pressure kills the microbes that spoil food but does not alter the food's flavor, appearance, consistency or nutritional value."
High-pressure processing was actually developed in the 1890s in a West Virginia lab, but it wasn't commercially feasible until other technological advances made it possible to achieve the amount of pressure needed to preserve food, according to Farkas, a leading researcher in the field.
"Now, the hurdle is establishing affordable equipment that can provide the speed and capacity needed for mass production," Farkas said.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
Return to Home Page