High Pressure Processing (HPP) pasteurization from JBT Avure is well-known for being able to deliver food-safe products that retain their flavor, texture, natural nutrition and freshness, while at the same time helping extend shelf-life for a range of categories. But perhaps what is less well-known is the sheer breadth of packaging that HPP can effectively handle.

From semi-rigid polymer bottles and trays to tubs, bowls and flexible pouches, JBT Avure’s ability to effectively pasteurize foods and liquids contained in a wide range of packages and materials is one of the technology’s strongest suits, providing processors with assurances that the same technology can be used for multiple applications.

Using ultra-high pressure (up to 87,000 psi or 6,000 bar) and purified, cold water, Avure’s HPP technology keeps packaged food and beverages pathogen-free, and helps them stay fresh longer without the need for preservatives or chemicals. 

Here, JBT’s Food Science Manager for HPP Avure Technologies, Dr. Austin Lowder, details how HPP handles different types of packaging and the advantages it offers to customers:

Tubs, bowls and cups
Typically used for liquids (soups, sauces, dressings, salsa), semi-solid mixtures (hummus, guacamole and other dips) and more solid potato, pasta and egg salads, tubs, bowls and cups provide versatile plastic containers for direct consumption or serving onto a dish. Such containers usually come with snap fit lids or, increasingly, film seals that can easily be removed.

The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 48 million people in the US – one in six of the population – get sick every year due to foodborne illness. HPP treatment can play an important role in ensuring products are safe to eat while losing none of their taste and nutritional values. For dishes like wet salads, prepared sauces, dips and soups, and ready-to-eat snacks, including those containing seafood and shellfood, HPP inactivates any foodborne pathogens present, such as listeria and E. coli. 

Flexible pouches and bags
A hugely popular packaging option during the last decade, flexible, sealed polymer pouches and bags are now used for a plethora of applications that stretches the length and breath of the grocery aisles and beyond. Equally effective for liquid, paste and solid products, flexible pouches and bags have a strong presence in both grocery retail and foodservice, and can carry decoration from sophisticated printed structures to post-applied labels.

What are the typical applications for flexible bags and pouches? These can range from baby food to pet food, to juices and beverages, single cuts of meats, fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, cheese, milk and other dairy products, plus pre-prepared foodservice ingredients. Of course, when it comes to sensitive products – and none more so than baby food – food safety is a key component of what HPP from JBT Avure can offer, while also helping preserve flavor and nutrients for an extended period of time.

Bottles
From fruit, vegetable and blended juices to smoothies, dairy drinks, and health regimen products, HPP has a broad range of applications for processors using PET and HDPE plastic bottles, and offers clear advantages compared with other pasteurization methods.

For fresh products like juices, shelf-life is always a big consideration and here HPP can make a considerable difference. Dependent on packaging, HPP treatment can extend fruit and vegetable juice shelf-life by at least 90 days, helping reduce returns, improve production scheduling and increasing distribution opportunities in the process. Moreover, HPP allows orange juice to retain 90% of its vitamin C even after 20 weeks of refrigeration. 

But such advantages extend beyond juices. According to a 2023 academic study, HPP treated milk not only meets “all microbial safety requirements”, but also offers a shelf-life of over 60 days in hot and humid regions.

Trays
With some 20% of meat and dairy products lost every year due to spoilage, the suitability of another popular packaging type – trays – for HPP offers a range of benefits to processors. From ready meals and plant-based meats (pictured above) to cheeses and snacks, semi-rigid, sealed polymer trays are a common sight in refrigerated displays, providing ease-of-use and simple storage for consumers.

For ready-to-eat meals, not disappointing consumer expectations is essential to ensuring repeat purchases and here HPP can play an important role. Using only cold water for pasteurization, Avure’s clean-label HPP technology helps ready-to-eat meals retain their original texture, color and healthy vitamins; in the process enabling a “freshly prepared” taste experience. Equally importantly, HPP-treated tray-packaged meals can last up to 90 days on retail shelves without additives. 

These are just a few of the many advantages that HPP from JBT Avure offers. Click HERE to read more about the the technology’s multiple benefits.