Project description
New method to improve extended shelf life of dairy products
The dairy industry faces multiple challenges as regards safety and quality of products, energy consumption and waste production. There is also pressure to ensure products such as ultra-pasteurised milk have an extended shelf life (ESL). The EU-funded EPSTech project has developed ‘Elevated Pressure Sonification’ (EPS). This patented method offers ESL products a similar flavour to fresh ones, while deactivating microorganisms and amplifying the nutritional profile. This innovation also reduces energy use and waste production and cuts down production time by half. The project aims to conduct a technical feasibility study targeting commercialisation of the project on a global level.
Objective
SERETech Ltd., has developed a disruptive non-thermal method of killing bacteria using a combination of elevated pressure CO2 and low intensity sonication. We have called this patented technology ‘Elevated Pressure Sonication’ (EPS). EPS is a market creating innovation that brings a step change to the Dairy Industry by enabling the production of new Extended Shelf Life (ESL) products that offer a flavour profile similar to their fresh counterparts thanks to the ability to achieve safety with a reduced thermal load. Our innovation can effectively inactivate microorganisms and spores at 40-50ºC, resulting in products with an extended shelf-life of at least a 4-fold increase with enhanced nutritional and sensorial profiles, as well as obtaining 5-fold reductions in energy usage compared to currently used pasteurisation processes and cutting process times by half. Moreover, the application of the technology to side-streams (buttermilk, whey and desludge) enables their recovery, thereby reducing waste, improving resource efficiency, increasing yields and enabling processors to leverage Circular Economy models. This novel solution has enormous potential to address and overcome key commercial, technical, social and environmental challenges that are faced by the dairy industry worldwide.
The technology has been developed to pilot scale and demonstrated in industry to TRL6. Our aim is to leverage the SMEI to scale up to a customer fit-for-use continuous modular flow unit that will be suited to easy retrofit in existing dairy processing plants, and to commence commercialization in the global dairy industry as a first application (extending the applications then to other beverage processing and brewing). In Phase 1, we aim to perform an application-focused technical feasibility study in cocreation with industry early adopters, an assessment of the regulatory requirements for commercialisation, and a comprehensive market assessment that will inform our 5-year business plan.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
B3 1PX BIRMINGHAM
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.