Western Australian food processor Fresh Produce Alliance is set to launch Australia’s first baby food which is made using high pressure processing (HPP) to sterilise it.
The ABC reports that the Manjimup-based company will be able to make the baby food with fruit that would otherwise be wasted by farmers.
“We wanted to do something for Australian farmers,” Fresh Produce Alliance’ s Managing director Jenny Franceschi (pictured) told the ABC.
“[I’ve heard, on average] 30 per cent of products that are grown in Australia don’t leave the farm gate.
According to the company’s website, HPP is a cold Pasteurisation technique through which packaged products such as baby foods are placed into vessels and subjected to high level of isostatic pressure transmitted by water.
It kills potentially harmful bacteria without bruising the fruit or affecting its nutritional value.
In contrast, as Fresh Produce Alliance’s food technologist and dietitian Debbie Xu told the ABC, heat treatment which is used to sterilize most commercial food, kills some nutrients like vitamins B and C.
“But by HPP you avoid heat treatment, but at the same time you kill the bad bacteria, so you can extend the shelf life without affecting the nutritional value of the food,” said Xu.