Superchilling to improve quality and shelf-life

Greg Jones, Food Microbiologist

Members have voted for a new project on superchilling for improved product shelf-life and quality. Previous work has demonstrated its considerable potential. This new project will provide manufacturers and retailers with clear evidence of which products could benefit most from use of superchilling. Listen to Greg Jones explaining what the technique is and its potential benefits.

Contact us

Before you Send please insert the same letters and numbers you see in this image captcha_image into this box: (this helps us fight spam)


When you click on the Send button you will be deemed to have accepted our terms and conditions

Greg Jones

About Greg Jones

Greg graduated with a PhD in Molecular Microbiology from Swansea University and joined Campden BRI in 2006.

Read more...

Transcript

Superchilling is the practice of taking a product down to below the temperature at which it would usually be chilled, down to about minus one and a half to minus two degrees C, at this point part of the product is frozen and part of it is liquid.


Superchilling allows one to extend the shelf-life of the product. For example, we looked at some prawns, we took those in at superchill temperatures, kept them at superchill temperatures for 10 days and then proved that they had a subsequent chilled shelf life of 10 days. This effectively doubled the shelf life of those prawns.


The methodology is very, very simple, all you need is a standard blast chiller and current mechanical refrigeration techniques are well able to hold at minus one and a half to minus two degrees C. So, it really is a case of leaving a product in a standard chiller for a slightly longer time before then moving it into a standard cold storage area running at a slightly colder temperature than usual.


Our experiments so far have shown that it is safe, we have done a limited number of experiments to show that Listeria does not grow at superchill temperatures. However, if one is following a good HACCP plan then the products should be safe anyway, so superchilling does not make a product any less safe it really is dependent on the product and how it is manufactured when it comes to safety.


Challenges can be establishing when a product reaches that point at which it is partially frozen rather totally frozen, and then another challenge is to maintain superchill temperatures in storage whilst the product is under control of the manufacturer. This can be achieved using standard refrigeration units and we have done that here at Campden BRI and we have not found it to be too great a challenge.

More on Shelf life

Sensory panel analysing biscuit product

Leveraging sensory insights throughout the product lifecycle

Explore the benefits of applying sensory analysis to produce robust sensory data and make more informed commercial decisions, as well as the risks of not inc...


Agar plate with salmonella growth

FAQs: your shelf-life questions answered

In this Q&A, our experts detail the answers to the shelf-life questions that they are most frequently asked by clients.


Dry foods in bowls on table

Accelerated shelf-life testing of food and beverage products

Here we outline the services we offer in this area, signpost other useful tools, and unpack some of the key considerations and limitations for conducting acc...


Range of soft drinks in glassware

Understanding and maximising the shelf-life of drinks

Understanding the quality deterioration that can occur to shelf stable beverages can help developers design their product and its production process to facil...


Consumer checking products on shelf

5 reasons to review product shelf-Life

Clearly shelf-life needs to be established as part of new product development, but there are plenty of other reasons why shelf-life must be reviewed – here w...


Setting a shelf life for ambient food

Setting shelf-life for ambient food and beverage products

Exploring shelf-life limiting quality parameters and considerations for setting a ‘best before’ date for ambient goods



Contact an expert