Bright white lights could be used as low-cost bug blitzer

Seafood processors could be the first to benefit from pulsed light technology being tested at Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA), which could eradicate bacteria and prolong shelf-life.

The technology exposes food surfaces to high intensity white light, constituting the visible and invisible spectrum and including ultraviolet and infrared light.

"According to Claranor, a French company loaning us the equipment for a year, the light is 20,000 times more intense than sunlight and has a lethal effect on microorganisms," said Andrew Green, higher research officer in CCFRA's food manufacturing division. Samples are exposed to five bursts, each lasting three micro-seconds, so the technology could become a production line process, he claimed.

The method can be used for various tasks, from mould suppression in bread to listeria prevention in smoked salmon.

Industry body Seafish put £5,000 towards the project and CCFRA provided matching funding.

"It's not particularly expensive and has relatively low running costs," said Seafish's senior fish technologist Richard Watson.

Although the technology hasn't been used in UK food manufacture before, Nestlé sterilises bottle tops with pulsed light and it is used in aseptic transfer operations, added Green.

Separately, CCFRA is exploring new applications for high pressure processing (HPP) technology in seafood where it could open up opportunities to create new products, said CCFRA principal research officer Craig Leadley. "For example, you can completely remove shells to create raw, ready-to-cook lobsters and crabs."

Nigel Rogers at HPP specialist Avure Technologies UK, said: "The business case is far more compelling if they look at HPP as a tool to help them create unique products rather than as a straight replacement for pasteurisation."