MEDIA ADVISORY

National Center installs world's first high pressure food sterilization unit

CHICAGO, September 24, 2001-The National Center for Food Safety and Technology has become the first and only place in the world able to conduct research on high pressure sterilization of food.

Sterilization aims to destroy all harmful organisms and is a far harsher process than pasteurization. Shelf-stable foods must be sterilized to prevent the growth of bacteria and of the spores that cause botulism. Until now the only way to sterilize food has been through intense heat, which impairs the quality and nutritional content of food.

The new research unit at the National Center sterilizes food through high pressures combined with moderate temperatures. This will result in the first shelf-stable soups, sauces and other foods with nearly unchanged nutritional content and taste.

The National Center received the unit, a world first manufactured by Flow International, in its role as the main research partner in a Dual Use Science and Technology (DUST) consortium that also includes the U.S. Army, Procter & Gamble, ConAgra Grocery Products and Kraft Foods. Consortium partners plan to explore the potential of high pressure sterilization for production of combat rations and commercial foods. At the National Center, Dr. Bala Balasubramaniam will lead efforts to address basic food safety and technology issues and to demonstrate the feasibility of high-pressure processing for shelf-stable foods.

The National Center is the one place where scientists from industry, government and academia collaborate to improve the safety of the food supply. Besides academic host Illinois Institute of Technology, the consortium consists of over 70 companies, the Food and Drug Administration, IIT Research Institute and the University of Illinois.

Illinois Institute of Technology is a private, Ph.D.-granting university with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. IIT is also the home of the Chicago Kent Law School, Stuart Graduate School of Business, and the Institute of Design in Chicago's Loop.

###