Research and industry partners from Germany, the Netherlands and Spain will join together on a project to implement three novel food processing technologies under industrial conditions, ensuring rapid and maximum market uptake.
Collaborators on the i3 project will help to ensure the validation of optimal control of the process for the three technologies, which are pulsed electric field preservation (PEF-P) of liquid food products such as fruit juices and smoothies; high pressure thermal sterilization (HPTS) of ready-to-eat meals; and low shear extrusion for cold food products, particularly ice cream.
It will also lead to the development of a scientific and cutting edge strategy for overcoming market barriers. Although these technologies have been developed in recent years and technical advantages have been made in terms of time savings, energy savings, extending shelf life for retailers and ‘ready to use’ products, the implementation of these technologies in industrial food production is often still limited, a spokesperson for the project claimed in a statement.
i3’s partners include Catalonia-based Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries, Osnabrück-based Deutsche Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik and the Food & Bio-based Research Institute within Stichting Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek at the Netherlands’ Wageningen University.
“The project partners have outstanding expertise in these technologies and high competences in system and innovation research. Thus, the European consortium brings together four research and technology organizations, four small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and two large industry partners that will connect and amplify the EU strengths in bringing advanced technologies into European practice,” the project said.
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