The poultry processor plans to launch full-scale trials of the ‘SonoSteam’ technology at its factory in Brackley, Northamptonshire in November. If these prove successful it intends to invest more than £1M in the method.
The steam killed the micro-organisms and the ultra-sound boosted the effectiveness of the treatment, so the time required for the process was only 1.5 seconds, the firm claimed.
‘Revolutionary’
“The SonoSteam technology is revolutionary in the fight against the risk of food infection,” said Faccenda Foods md Andy Dawkins.
“We believe that SonoSteam can deliver a significant reduction in the number of cases of campylobacter foodborne infection attributed to chicken and will lead the way in setting industry standards.”
Campylobacter is considered to be responsible for more than 280,000 cases of food poisoning each year, leading to more than 100 deaths, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Tackling the bug is the FSA’s top priority. FSA chief executive, Catherine Brown, said she supported the approach taken by Faccenda to tackle campylobacter.
“This commitment from Faccenda is welcomed by the FSA as another important step towards reducing the risks posed by campylobacter,” she said.
“Faccenda have worked proactively to deliver the ‘Roast in the Bag’ initiative and this is another step in finding an effective intervention for the reduction of campylobacter levels in poultry meat. The FSA is supporting the trials at Faccenda and will provide an independent evaluation of the SonoSteam performance.”
The ‘Roast in a Bag’ initiative used an innovative packaging system to enable consumers to put the product straight in the oven without having to remove the packaging first, taking food safety in the kitchen to another level, Faccenda claimed.
Innovative approach
SonoSteam vice president, Niels Krebs, said: “We have worked closely with Faccenda on developing the technology to this point and we are confident that the next stage will demonstrate the effectiveness of this innovative approach.”
Meanwhile, Bernard Matthews has claimed rapid surface chilling could significantly cut campylobacter infections on the skin of poultry at a modest cost of 4-5p a bird.
Watch our exclusive video, filmed at the Food Manufacture Group’s Food safety conference earlier this month, with Bernard Matthews’s group technical director Jeremy Hall to find out more.