HPP is the leading non-thermal technology to extend the shelf-life of a variety of fresh foods, juices, dips, salsa, hummus, deli meats, seafood and even cosmetics that seek to be preservative free can meet regulatory requirements with HPP.
The appearance of the technology and the name, HPP, sounds more complicated than what really goes on inside the machine. All HPP equipment really does is surround a packaged food or beverage with cold water inside a vessel. This vessel can hold a lot of water and even force more water in when filled to capacity. Once filled to capacity with cold water and more water is forced into the vessel the water inside will compress and build pressure. Since the pressure is created by cold water there is no thermal heat created and therefore HPP is not a method of pasteurization or sterilization but simply a non-thermal lethality treatment to microorganisms.
The technology is recognized by Health Canada, FDA, USDA, EU and other global regulatory agencies for extending shelf-life and meeting food safety standards without preservatives.
Being a lethality treatment to microorganisms means that the HPP technology will kill harmful bacteria such as Listeria monocyctogenes, Salmonella, and E.coli O157 to name a few. However, being that HPP is a non-thermal lethality treatment means that beyond killing bacteria there is little to no change to the food/beverage. Meaning the quality of the product going into HPP will come out the same post-HPP. Such quality attributes are the taste and nutrients.
