Food is preserved by high pressure

The preservation of food by heating-up, salt (pickling), smoke (smoking) or simply drying has been known to mankind for centuries. Uhde High Pressure Technologies and MULTIVAC, the worldwide leading manufacturer of packaging solutions, have trodden new paths with respect to the high-pressure processing of food.

Food packed by high-pressure processing is exposed to a high pressure of up to 6,000 bar. To make it clear: This corresponds to the pressure which would theoretically be gauged at a point being 60 km below sea surface. Thus, harmful microorganisms in food will be destroyed without the use of heat or preservatives.

Therefore, the objective of High Pressure Processing (HPP) is the highly product-sparing reduction or inactivation of unwanted microorganisms in food to extend its preservation on the one hand and improve food safety on the other. The HPP method is of interest not to the food industry only, but - because of the new chances - to the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries as well.

The advantages of the HPP method are as follows: 
Safety and preservation of food are increased which is likewise advantageous to consumers and producers. As processing is implemented in the final packaging material, no recontamination can occur during filling-up, and in many cases producers can do without the addition of preservatives completely. So, flavour and nutrient content are maintained to the greatest possible extent and the product is not damaged thermally, this not least because the product is processed evenly, since high pressure acts on the food directly and from all sides.

So far, almost exclusively HP processed products in vacuum packaging have been marketed. Thanks to combined know-hows of Uhde High Pressure Technologies and MULTIVAC it is possible for the first time to safely process food packaged under protective gas atmosphere (MAP) by means of the HPP method. In addition, MULTIVAC offers the possibility to integrate the HPP plant into automated packaging lines, which makes HPP processing attractive to food manufacturers and packagers under economic aspects as well.