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	High pressures, an alternative method for preserving food

	New technologies based on high-pressure processing have become an alternative to heating food to prepare it for storage. Thanks to innovative processes developed by NC Hyperbaric, the food industry is able to bring safer, fresher, and more natural products to market. Food preservation has been a challenge throughout human history, involving drying, salting, smoking, pickling, fermenting, cooking and freezing. Today, a popular solution for inhibiting the growth of bacteria, and preserving food for shipping and shelf-storage, is heating it to kill microbes; this process, however, also harms nutrients and affects taste. A new system developed by NC Hyperbaric, called high-pressure processing (HPP), employs the use of extremely high pressures that disrupt the functioning of microbes, without affecting nutrients or flavor. In NC Hyberbaric’s system, the food is first sealed in its final flexible packaging. Those packages are placed in a plastic container inside high-strength steel vats. Up to 185 miles of wire are wound around the vats, increasing their ability to withstand pressure. Then the tanks fill with water, an additional 15 percent beyond what would theoretically be considered full. The excess of water creates extreme pressure in the tanks, pressing the molecules of the food together. “It’s similar to lowering your product to an ocean depth of 35 miles,” explains Purroy. The pressure exerted on the food kills microbes such as listeria or salmonella (thus increasing product safety and shelf-life), while preserving the ingredients and characteristics of fresh products. For instance, a consumer in Madrid can eat lobster from the St. Lawrence River in Canada that has the same fresh-caught texture, or can drink fruit juice packed with virtually all its original vitamins and properties.

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"High-pressure processing is a cold-process technique that consists of exposing food that has been sealed in a flexible container to high levels of uniform pressure for several minutes." Resources

NC Hyperbaric


	High pressures, an alternative method for preserving food

	New technologies based on high-pressure processing have become an alternative to heating food to prepare it for storage. Thanks to innovative processes developed by NC Hyperbaric, the food industry is able to bring safer, fresher, and more natural products to market. Food preservation has been a challenge throughout human history, involving drying, salting, smoking, pickling, fermenting, cooking and freezing. Today, a popular solution for inhibiting the growth of bacteria, and preserving food for shipping and shelf-storage, is heating it to kill microbes; this process, however, also harms nutrients and affects taste. A new system developed by NC Hyperbaric, called high-pressure processing (HPP), employs the use of extremely high pressures that disrupt the functioning of microbes, without affecting nutrients or flavor. In NC Hyberbaric’s system, the food is first sealed in its final flexible packaging. Those packages are placed in a plastic container inside high-strength steel vats. Up to 185 miles of wire are wound around the vats, increasing their ability to withstand pressure. Then the tanks fill with water, an additional 15 percent beyond what would theoretically be considered full. The excess of water creates extreme pressure in the tanks, pressing the molecules of the food together. “It’s similar to lowering your product to an ocean depth of 35 miles,” explains Purroy. The pressure exerted on the food kills microbes such as listeria or salmonella (thus increasing product safety and shelf-life), while preserving the ingredients and characteristics of fresh products. For instance, a consumer in Madrid can eat lobster from the St. Lawrence River in Canada that has the same fresh-caught texture, or can drink fruit juice packed with virtually all its original vitamins and properties.

.Resources.


	High pressures, an alternative method for preserving food

	New technologies based on high-pressure processing have become an alternative to heating food to prepare it for storage. Thanks to innovative processes developed by NC Hyperbaric, the food industry is able to bring safer, fresher, and more natural products to market. Food preservation has been a challenge throughout human history, involving drying, salting, smoking, pickling, fermenting, cooking and freezing. Today, a popular solution for inhibiting the growth of bacteria, and preserving food for shipping and shelf-storage, is heating it to kill microbes; this process, however, also harms nutrients and affects taste. A new system developed by NC Hyperbaric, called high-pressure processing (HPP), employs the use of extremely high pressures that disrupt the functioning of microbes, without affecting nutrients or flavor. In NC Hyberbaric’s system, the food is first sealed in its final flexible packaging. Those packages are placed in a plastic container inside high-strength steel vats. Up to 185 miles of wire are wound around the vats, increasing their ability to withstand pressure. Then the tanks fill with water, an additional 15 percent beyond what would theoretically be considered full. The excess of water creates extreme pressure in the tanks, pressing the molecules of the food together. “It’s similar to lowering your product to an ocean depth of 35 miles,” explains Purroy. The pressure exerted on the food kills microbes such as listeria or salmonella (thus increasing product safety and shelf-life), while preserving the ingredients and characteristics of fresh products. For instance, a consumer in Madrid can eat lobster from the St. Lawrence River in Canada that has the same fresh-caught texture, or can drink fruit juice packed with virtually all its original vitamins and properties.

Resources