This is great information, and we should be so excited to the applications. Wonder if it will be used on fresh produce? Thanks, Cookson, this great article shows that solutions come out of challenges and move food safety forward one big step at a time.

If this high pressure can kill pathogens by disrupting cellular activity, then I would bet that it must also denature the cells of the food itself. The food may look fine on a macro scale, but what about looking at the food on the cellular level? How do we know this is not denaturing the proteins or dna in the food, which can have unforseen negative affects?
One study comes to mind, where there were 2 groups of rats that were fed rice. One group received normal rice, while the other group received the same rice after it had been "puffed" by a high pressure process. Every rat fed the puffed rice slowly debilitated and got sick until they died.

HPP certainly holds benefits for public health. I also wonder what its limitations might be in retail, and in small food processing establishments.

For example, let's consider the current recall of Salmonella-laced meat emanating from the Hannaford retail chain in the northeast. The fact that several Hannaford outlets, in several states, are impacted by this recall reveals that one of Hannafords suppliers had one or more days of sizeable sanitation/contamination problems which resulted in their shippment of contaminated meat to the Hannaford stores. Let's assume the contamination arrived at Hannaford either in (1) boxed beef (ribs, rounds, chucks, etc), in (2) boneless trimmings, or in (3) chubs of coarse ground beef which are further processed at Hannaford outlets. The article above states that chubs can be treated by HPP. Can someone explain if boxed beef or trimmings can be treated via HPP?

The cost of HPP equipment, and the floor space required to install and utilize HPP technology will make such technology impractical for small food plants, including retail grocery stores such as Hannaford, Safeway, WalMart, etc. In the meat & poultry arena, most downstream further processors totally depend on outside source slaughter providers for all their meat. I'd like to know if the source slaughter plants can use HPP for 100% of their products which they sell to downstream further processors. If not, HPP will face limitations which should be clearly delineated to American consumers at this time. Unfortunately, consumers and gov regulatory agencies might view HPP as the silver bullet, all-in-all godsend which can make all food safer; thus, should be MANDATED by USDA and FDA at all establishments. Don't laugh, this is not beyond the realm of government requirements.

Also, can HPP be used in fresh produce which is sold at retail in loose, unpackaged form? Examples include tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, canteloupe, peppers, sprouts, etc, many of which have caused outbreaks in recent years.

Another concern I have is the likely expectation of gov agencies that ALL food manufacturers and processors MUST eventually incorporate HPP into their operations? An example is USDA's current style of HACCP, in which agency actions since 2000 have revealed that USDA secretly expects meat & poultry plants of all sizes should utilize a "One Size Fits All" production protocol. In my very small plant and countless others, USDA personnel continually state that ALL plants should consider implementation of interventions which are so blasted expensive that only the largest high-chain speed plants can afford to implement the technology. Furthermore, the high-speeds of the mega plants contribute to pathogen problems, which is why these largest plants absolutely need every intervention known to mankind, while the snail-speed small plants have a greatly diminished pathogen risk.

If HPP technology eventually morphs into application for the produce industry, what will happen to small, local produce growers with but a small local marketing area? I respectfully suggest that America prospers when our nation is liberally sprinkled with an abundance of small, local & regional producers.

I am not criticizing HPP. Rather, I'm asking that someone be bold enough to discuss its potential limitations for certain products. And, USDA and FDA must be upfront here, and be audacious enough to delineate the practical limitations of HPP for products under their authority.

Eventually, we will be forced to admit that whoever (family kitchens, restaurants, nursing homes, caterers) prepares for consumption food not treated with HPP must still treat such food as risky, and handle it accordingly.

HPP is undeniably an admirable tool in our intervention arsennal. We simply need to also discuss its probable limitations, and get such discussion into our society.

John Munsell

Can HPP be used with Tree-nuts (specifically Walnuts)? Since heat is not used with HPP, this could be a replacement for PPO, pasteurization, or steam treatment. However, I do agree with "John" that if the proteins in the bacteria are denatured why not the cellular make-up of the food itself?

Glenn Hewson says: "We have performed tests and trials on tree nuts however the issue is that the nuts have sharp edges which, due to the pressure, punch through the packaging material and let in the processing water."

More suppliers of HPP food processing equipment are entering the market. See Medusa High Pressure Technologies http://www.medusa-hpt.com

To John the First: These are good questions. Speaking on behalf of Avure, I can tell you that HPP is applied when the product is in its consumer package. It should not be confused with the manufacturing process that produced the puffed rice.

To John Munsell: John, you raise several interesting points. I invite you to learn more about HPP in our white paper available here: http://www.avure.com/food/

In the meantime, a few replies to your concerns: HPP’s primary application as a safety treatment is for packaged, refrigerated foods. The long list of products ranges from RTE meats and fresh juices and cut fruits to dips, spreads, and wet salads, and growing. While the use of HPP for pre-packaged ground beef and ground turkey patties represents a major advance for meat processors, it has never been intended or depicted as a silver bullet for all food categories.

In many instances, the cost of HPP equipment and the floor space required is being addressed by the rapid increase in contract service providers like APC in Wisconsin, GL Foods in Texas, and Universal Cold Storage in Lincoln, Nebraska.

There is nary a whisper of HPP as a mandate, but you are quite right about the importance of extending the dialogue!

John: The puffed rice nonsense is an urban legend, an internet hoax you are either believe because you're gullible, or push because you hope to sell some snake oil. But if trusting in such quackery eases your hypochondria, I suggest you avoid popcorn.