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Food Tech 2 2011 JTang
Food Tech 2 2011 JTang
by Aaron L. Brody
Advances in Microwave
Pasteurization and Sterilization
T
he history of microwave food heating is sprin-
kled with wonderfully intertwined tales of
serendipity and genius that enrich and educate
us to a deeper appreciation of the bearing of the
past upon us tomorrow. In the beginning was
Raytheon’s legendary wizard Percy Spencer, whose
chocolate bar melted as he wandered by a radar
antenna in his laboratory, a development that led
him to the invention of the microwave oven.
Apocryphal or not, the water-cooled white
Radarange® , the first commercial microwave oven,
made its debut before 1950.
Perhaps the pop dreams were fueled by the
amusing newspaper cartoons depicting the explod-
ing eggs in microwave oven cavities or the popcorn
popping in paper bags (which much later led to the
microwave popcorn package) or the odd coupling of while being commercialized. Multitherm was Second-generation microwave sterilization
microwave energy with ionizing radiation that derived from the concept that microwave radiation system at Washington State University.
Photo courtesy of Washington State University
would sterilize foods with infinite ambient-tempera- does not necessarily have to function alone to gen-
ture shelf lives. Massachusetts Institute of erate the desired uniform heating patterns that
Technology’s Team Goldblith (Sam) blitzed the could simultaneously destroy enzymes and micro-
notion with a carefully contrived and conducted organisms with minimum heat and maximum
study that demonstrated that the microbiological quality retention.
effects of microwaves were wholly thermal, a mes- Stenström noted in his Multitherm thesis that
sage that remains unheard by many through this solid foods could receive energy from all surfaces,
day. Recognizing the power from the electromag- but not uniformly. This known deficiency of micro-
Microwave radiation does not necessarily have to function alone to generate the desired uniform heating patterns
that could simultaneously destroy enzymes and microorganisms with minimum heat and maximum quality retention.
netic spectrum, Raytheon’s Dave Copson engaged wave heating challenged its ability to sterilize the
me to test the thesis that the quick transfer of food content because some of the food—just the
microwave energy could destroy enzymes in portion containing microorganisms—would invari-
orange juice within seconds. Thermodynamics ably not be heated to sterilization conditions. He
proved the point, which lay latent for decades. therefore proposed combination (hence, “multi”)
with water and steam on the exterior to moderate
Multitherm Processing the several energy sources to deliver uniform heat
During the 1960s, the brilliant Swedish scientist throughout the food mass. Thus, to spread the heat,
Lennart Stenström probed deeply into the geome- the product (in its shallow, brick-shaped micro-
try of microwaves in and out of cavities and wave-transparent barrier plastic package) is
developed several alternative solutions, one of immersed in hot water, which removes heat from
which he dubbed Multitherm and had patented the corners that would otherwise overheat, and
02.11 • www.ift.org 83 pg
[PACKAGING]
pg 84 02.11 • www.ift.org
ethylene vinyl alcohol for oxygen barrier frequency microwave energy and packaged is stirring. Based on the integration of
between layers of polypropylene for struc- applying aseptic technology. In the process, numerous single disciplines, holistic hurdles
ture, moisture barrier, and microwave which has been recognized with an IFT are driving microwave heating, pasteuriza-
transparent heat resistance plus a hermeti- Industrial Achievement Award, product is tion, and sterilization into the mainstream of
cally heat-sealed, peelable flexible barrier preheated to 170ºF in a screw heater and processing, preservation, and distribution.
closure. To assist in the sterilization heat brought up to sterilization temperatures of By radically reducing the input heat required
transfer, the trays are relatively thin, which, 290ºF in 10 seconds in a double-tube continu- to achieve microbiological control in combi-
not coincidentally, aids in rethermalization of ous flow microwave unit supplied by nation with other heat sources, oxygen
the ambient-temperature-distributed Industrial Microwave Corp. (www.industrial- reduction, gas barrier packaging, and asep-
product. microwave.com/industries). In commercial tic packaging and the ever-crucial
Although the group projects an ambient operation, the cooled product is aseptically distribution system, microwave processing
temperature shelf life of more than two years, filled into industrial/institutional-sized bag- and its related radio frequency sources
the postulation from this perspective is that in-box packages on a LiquiBox system (www. have emerged from their shroud to offer
absent the removal of almost all of the oxygen liquibox.com). powerful new means to satisfy consumer
from the system, shelf life would not be Meanwhile, again extending the reach of desires for safe prepared food products that
extended nearly that much. Chilled distribu- microwave heating in pumpables, particu- are high in quality. Once again in the chro-
tion would prolong the shelf life, but the cost/ lates up to ¾ inch in size are being moved nology of all food science and technology, a
benefit return is debatable: We believe that applying progressive-cavity Marlen multiplicity of food disciplines are weaving
extended-shelf-life considerations would Research (www.marlen.com) pumps and into an intricate web that promises to figu-
warrant the controlled distribution, but that microwave sterilized in the North Carolina ratively explode on the commercial
would have to be demonstrable in commer- State University pilot plant managed by Josip scene—finally. FT
cial practice. Simunovic (josip.simunovic@ncsu.edu).
• Prepackaging sterilization. In today’s Aaron L. Brody, Ph.D., Contributing Editor
expanding spectrum of technology, low-acid Envisioning the Future • President and CEO, Packaging/Brody Inc., Duluth, Ga.,
and Adjunct Professor, University of Georgia
sweet potato puree is sterilized at Yamco After too many years of fits and starts on • aaronbrody@aol.com
(www.yamco.net), also with 915 MHz the American market, a technological giant