Pasteurisation process validation project results in significant energy cost savings
09 December 2021
Sterilisation and pasteurisation processes are often used to kill off a certain amount of micro-organisms in foodstuffs. Predictive modelling (predictive microbiology) is perfect for validating these heating processes.
Last month, we completed a project in which we investigated the effectiveness of a pasteurisation process in relation to certain relevant microflora.
We started by identifying the micro-organism which is the worst-case contamination for this specific product and this specific process. Predictive modelling demonstrated that the pasteurisation process used could theoretically be shortened by 65%, which we considered to be quite a big step. We therefore decided to develop a test design for which we inoculated the product with the defined worst-case micro-organism during a real time production.
During the accelerated as well as the real time shelf-life tests, our calculation was confirmed: the target organism did not grow, not even when the pasteurisation time was shortened by 75%. Our client will gradually shorten the pasteurisation process, and thus save 25% on energy costs during the first step.
