Research and Development
Food Technology - Cross-Over Solutions for More Safety
Together with our partners who are specialized in the fields of machinery and additive technology, we develop new solutions in food safety technology. We take an interdisciplinary approach that combines several different industries in order to achieve the best possible solutions for your specific area. We also combine strategic planning with R&D, making use of our experience in project management. Here are some examples of developments in food technology:
- New kinds of sterilization technology
- Technology to extend shelf-life
- Use of hurdle technology in product development
- Development of clean-label products
- Processes and room concepts for sensitive food products
- Hygienic design
- Predictive microbiology and micromodelling
Challenge-Tests
With their obligation to exercise due diligence, food producers are responsible for the safety of the food products that they place on the market. Their products have to fulfill certain criteria in order to protect the health of the consumers.
Fulfilling these obligations can occasionally pose a great challenge, because even if good hygiene practices are adhered to as strictly as possible, and HACCP principles are applied, you can never entirely rule out the risk of pathogenic germs or microbes that induce spoilage being found in the product. In order to verify the safety and the defined shelf-life of a food product, it is important to evaluate how these kinds of microbes behave and develop in the product under specific conditions.
One essential tool for this kind of evaluation is the microbiological challenge test. In this kind of test, the food product is artificially contaminated and then stored in a way that simulates real-world conditions as precisely as possible in order to determine the behavior of the relevant microbe within a defined time period. This is a particularly useful method of testing ready-to-eat products that could facilitate the growth of Listeria monocytogenes.
We provide challenge tests in accordance with the EURL Lm TECHNICAL GUIDANCE DOCUMENT for conducting shelf-life studies on Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods in the context of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. Furthermore, if you have similar issues concerning other microbes, we also carry out a wide range of other challenge tests, e.g. with Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans.
Based on our long-term experience, we can serve as your expert partner for consulting, planning, and executing challenge tests.
