Shake sterilisation technology licenced in US
minimising a loss of quality is now available for sale in the US.
Allpax Products, a division of Pro Mach, said it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Zinetec in the UK to become the sole US licensee of the Shaka batch retort process. The first Allpax product available with the Shaka) technology is the Allpax 2402SK R&D Retort. The laboratory-sized research unit can run the full array of retort processes used in the food industry in addition to the new Shaka process, Allpax stated. The 2402SK is engineered with a patent-pending spring design which dampens the vibrations but also allows s a more vigorous shaking and mixing of the product than competing designs, the company claimed. The Shaka process, developed by Zinetec, involved the rapid shaking of tinned products during sterilisation. The autoclaving technology dramatically lowers sterilization times for many canned, flexible packed and bottled food products to about ten minutes, down from about 45 minutes using current heat-based methods, Zinetec claims. The company also claims taste, color, texture and mouth feel of shelf-stable products are improved as there is no quality loss as the contents are subjected to heat over a shorter period. Kevin Collins, Allpax's director of thermal process services, said companies have run a number of products on the lab machine using the Shaka process. Many of them have be able to achieve "significant" reductions in thermal process times, he said. "The excitement comes when you compare a Shaka-processed product to one that has undergone a typical static retort process - the difference is remarkable," he said. "Taste, mouth feel, and appearance are all qualities that immediately stand out, but a closer examination reveals other key benefits such as nutrient retention." The Shaka technology can also be used for pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals can be rapidly agitated during the retort process. A typical retort machine is filled with containers which it then shakes vigorously in a back-and-forth motion, mixing the container contents thoroughly. The process allows heat to rapidily and evenly transfer throughout the can's contents.
