> Case studies >
What are the different pasteurization processes for ready meals?
The process of pasteurization is one of the most common food preservation methods. Not all technologies are equal to meet the demand of new consumer trends, specialy when it comes to ready meals and packaged products.
Ready meals: a growing challenge in the food industry
More than a sanitary issue, the pasteurization of packages products is now a focus for the food industry, as consumers want safer and healthier products without use of preservatives or additives, specially when it comes to ready meals. Consumers are also looking for taste and goodness in their food.
Facing this growing demand, new pasteurization methods are emerging. It is essential to choose the most adapted technology, suitable for the product to pasteurize but also preserving most of the organoleptic properties of the processed foods.
Pasteurization techniques of ready meals and packaged products
There are many pasteurization techniques to processdifferent types of ready meals products. Among the most common, we can mention in particular:
- Autoclave: heat treatment of food by injection of steam or spraying water in a sealed pressure chamber.
- Pasteurization on plates: spraying of hot water then cooling by spraying cold water.
- High pressure pasteurization (HPP): treatment of products in an enclosure filled with pressurized water at room temperature.
- Microwave pasteurization: inside-out and fast heating of food products, without the use of water.
Autoclaves
Retorts are a traditional process widely used in the food industry for the pasteurization of ready meals. They heat packaged products to the desired temperature by injecting steam or spraying hot water inside a sealed pressure chamber.
The time required to reach the target temperature at the product core (by conduction) is relatively long. This extended heating can negatively affect nutritional value, taste, texture, and color, often resulting in overcooked products.
Spiral pasteurizer
Spiral pasteurizators offer a continuous process that uses spraying of hot water on the packaged food. The product is therefore heated by conduction from the outside to the inside of the package.
Ready meals are loaded onto the belt and transported through different treatment areas (heating, cooling, stabilization). The maximum treatment temperature is typically around 90°C. This configuration allows high production throughput while maintaining consistent thermal treatment of packaged foods.
High-pressure pasteurization
High Pressure Processing (HPP) applies very high pressure, typically between 4,000 and 6,000 bar, to packaged food products for several minutes in a pressurized chamber filled with water at room temperature. This technology preserves the nutritional and sensory properties of foods very well, as they are not exposed to high temperatures. However, HPP systems are costly and operate in batch mode rather than continuously.
Why choose microwave pasteurization for ready meals?
In terms of pasteurization process, microwaves represent an efficientsolution for processing many ready meals products of diverse textures (pumpable products, powders, etc.). It also better preserves the organoleptic properties of the products treated than most other technologies.
Microwave technology offer multiple benefits:
- Speed: the product is processed quickly in just a few minutes while conventional processes can take 40-60 min.
- Gentle heating: the targeted temperature is controlled, which prevents overheating of the products, for perfect product quality.
- Significant space saving: microwave solutions take up much less floor space than otheer solutions, and this is a continuous process.
- Energy savings: 100% of the microwave energy generated is transmitted directly into the product without conduction phenomenon.
- Environment friendly: fully electric solution, for no carbon emission at the production plant.
Improve your ready meals processes
Contact SAIREM to discover how microwave technology can optimize your ready meals processing and pasteurization while preserving food quality and improving shelf life.
SAIREM’s microwave equipment for food pasteurization
To meet your production needs for the pasteurization of ready-to-eat meals, SAIREM has developed a flexible modular industrial pasteurizer that scales from 200 kg/h to 2 t/h.
Our microwave pasteurization systems require minimal maintenance and feature easy-clean design, reducing operation costs and downtime.
SAIREM’s range delivers the flexibility and efficiency needed to process diverse products – ready-to-eat meals, fruit jars and prepared foods – according to your specific requirements.
