Protection against product recall

2 May 2012 – Steripure is opening a service centre, in South Eastern France, for the pasteruisation and sterilisation of dry products.

Opening on 15 May, the service centre is capable of processing a wide range of products for which microbiological load reduction is advantageous. Set up in accordance with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) rules, Steripure is equipped with cutting-edge pasteurisation technology through the Napasol process. This process uses saturated steam under controlled pressure conditions, leading to optimal microbial reduction and a gentle processing of the produce.
The microorganisms found in dry products are removed using saturated steam in an autoclave, which is placed under vacuum. The combination of the vacuum and the saturated steam enables rapid sterilisation or pasteurisation of these delicate products at relatively low temperatures.

The Napasol method offers the benefit of efficient microbial reduction whilst not altering the produce, as the treatment occurs at low temperatures and no drying step is required.

Olivier Bourgois, founder of Steripure, has already used such a process when at Eurovanille, a natural vanilla producer, where he was a co-shareholder until 2010. Since this is a batch processing method where the produce is never in contact with the equipment’s surface, any risk of cross contamination is ruled out.

To ensure food safety, industrialists and distributors are becoming increasingly demanding with respect to the microbial load tolerated in the ingredients they use. The levels are difficult to guarantee, since farming production is naturally exposed to environmental contaminants.

The services provided by Steripure will help businesses comply with technical specifications, or process contaminated batches of low-moisture products such as spices, nuts, and all kinds of dried fruit.

Dried produce has long been seen as safe and free of any background products that encourage the development of pathogenic microorganisms, or of microorganisms that shorten the food’s lifecycle. Nevertheless, such dried produce has been involved in cases of food poisoning and product recalls.

In order to protect their brands, which may be damaged if they are subjected to a product recall or are blamed in a case of food poisoning, businesses have a great interest in getting a microbiological-reduction process in place for food with low moisture content.