We develop #topteams: Use High Pressure to Preserve Food Gently
Making special performance visible. Celebrating successes and innovations. And the team that makes it happen. The new #topteams series regularly presents teams from our group of companies whose achievements are driving us forward. Today: Our #topteam from Uhde High Pressure Technologies.
What is it about?
In Quakenbrück thyssenkrupp Uhde runs a center for High Pressure Processing of foodstuffs. The center received an important certification in record time.
What’s the point?
The certification ensures food industry customers that they will receive better and safer food after High Pressure Proccesing.
What’s the benefit?
Confidence in the safety of HPP technology leads to stable customer relations and, in the long term, to an improvement in the market position of Uhde High Pressure Technologies.
In the past, meat was preserved with a lot of salt, and fruits and vegetables were literally boiled to mush. In the process, valuable nutrients were lost. Today, a much gentler process is used: High Pressure Processing (HPP). The food is subjected to a pressure of 6,000 bar and thus preserved. But: If you want to use it efficiently, you need certification according to the International Featured Standard (IFS). Our #topteam of Dr. Jasna Ivanovic (Quality Management Representative/Sales), Sergej Dimmel (Quality Management Representative/Production), Christian Myland (CEO) and Boris Brockhaus (Sales) implemented the certification for the center in Quakenbrück in just six months – a third faster than usual.
What did you achieve as a team?
"The International Featured Standard (IFS) Global Markets Food (Intermediate Level) is recognized worldwide and is considered a very highly regarded standard for food safety, especially in the EU. Initially, we never thought we would overcome this high hurdle in six months. But after we sat down together and discussed the individual steps, we realized that as a team we could do it. Everyone knew what had to be done. This certification is a strategic milestone for us."
How did you achieve that together?
"We all pull together – and we constantly exchanged ideas. We talked a lot and were always willing to learn from each other. This allowed us to combine and use knowledge from different areas of expertise. In addition, the core team in Quakenbrück gave us a lot of input and we were trained in food safety and quality. Over time, this made us a stronger team."
The process of High Pressure Processing of food products
At the HPP center in Quakenbrück, Germany, food is preserved under high pressure. The operator is thyssenkrupp Uhde High Pressure Technologies.
What does your achievement mean for thyssenkrupp?
"Implementing a food safety quality system in our company is, of course, not done with a snap of the fingers. In January 2021, the HPP Center in Quakenbrück had been approved. So we had already started with the high-pressure treatment. But without IFS, our customers had to rely on expensive and time-consuming supplier audits. So our goal was clear: improve market opportunities within supply chains and meet formal access requirements. We have achieved this. Our customers now get better and safer food – and the trust of their end customers has increased. A win-win situation! For us, engineering means that as a team we are continuously developing our HPP technology. We are working to be able to apply it in even more areas – and to make it even better. That's how we can meet tomorrow's market demands."
This is how High Pressure Pasteurization (HPP) of food works
The HPP center in Quakenbrück was approved in 2021 and is the largest center for High Pressure Pasteurization of food products in Germany. It was built by Uhde High Pressure Technologies (HPT). It has a capacity of up to 26 tons of food per day. The process is certified to one of the world's most important food safety standards. In addition to Germany, the catchment area for the center includes the BeNeLux states and our neighboring countries to the north and east.
Products in flexible and water-proof package are conveyed within the plastic baskets into a high-pressure vessel. Water is filled into the HPP vessel and pressurized to pressure of 6,000 bar. Acting instantaneously and uniformly through a mass of a food or independently of the size, geometry and composition, isostatic pressure leaves no evident crushing effect on the products. High isostatic pressure inactivates food-borne microorganisms and spoilage enzymes in a few minutes.
Since high pressure eliminates many food-damaging organisms and can deactivate microorganisms, decay processes are significantly slowed down and in some cases even prevented. For example, some types of fruit no longer turn brown. Flavors and vitamins, on the other hand, consist of very small molecules and do not belong to the group of weak bonds. They are not damaged and remain intact. High pressure processing has proved particularly effective for fruit products and meat products. Although even very sensitive foods in their final packaging are exposed to this pressure, their appearance and consistency remain unchanged after treatment.
Semisolid or solid foods packed under vacuum (sausages, dry-cured, cooked meat products, cheeses, seafood, marinated products, RTE, dips, sauces), solid foods in plastic cups or pouches (fruits jams, marmalades, compotes, purées) and high moisture liquid foods in plastic bottles (dairy products, fruit and vegetable juices, bioactive beverages).
We congratulate Uhde's #topteam on this great achievement and wish them continued success
Are you also part of a #topteam? Then send us an email. We look forward to celebrating your successes together!
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