Life of deli food to be extended thanks to new processing procedure
A new type of high-pressure processing has recently been announced that is going to help extend the life expectancy of delicatessen food from two weeks to around 50 days, without the food losing any of its taste or fresheners.
The technology is going to be employed with Deli 24, who are one of the only companies in the country do have a high-pressure facility like this. However, the company have said that they are going to be able to make this facility available to other companies in the UK, on a contract basis.
This technology is nothing new, and has been used successfully, in other countries for over a decade. It is used in a wide range of different products, and has a lot of different applications. The technology really been to take attraction in 2005, and its use was mainly in the United States.
The technology works by actually pasteurising the products when they are in their final packaging. The idea is that around 6000 bars of pressure causes cell damage the bacteria, meaning that they are unable to infect the food. This process does not involve the compromising of the packaging, meaning that new bacteria cannot get in, meaning that the food is much safer for a longer period of time.
The process is particularly welcome because it means that food preservatives do not have to be used to the same extent, and the shelf life can be extended significantly without the use of these additives.
The process means that the nutrient value, taste, as well as the texture of the snacks remains the same, which might be lost through other preservative processors. Usually, another process to preserve the food for longer is heat, but this is known to damage the taste of the food, making it less appealing.
