For those who work in the food industry, food safety will always be a top priority. As technology has changed over the years, certain processes of ensuring that the food we produce is safe have gone in and out of style. Steam sterilization, though, has been around for a long time. And although its execution has been refined over the years, it remains an industry leader for reducing the microbial count of spices and dehydrated fruits and vegetables.
Steam sterilization is an all-natural, environmentally-friendly process that maintains the key properties of the ingredient while avoiding the potential side effects of other chemical-based processes.
The best steam sterilization processes use a combination of induction heating and direct steam injection. Each product has an optimal range for micro-reduction that leaves the taste, color, and other properties largely unaffected. Our steam sterilization settings have been refined over years of testing to identify the ideal settings for each product and our two steam sterilization process lines include the necessary automated controls to ensure that all parameters are within set levels. Silva’s steam sterilization process has also been validated for its effectiveness by Certified Laboratories.
Once the spices or dehydrated fruits or vegetables have been heated, they are moved into a cooling auger where excess moisture from the process is evacuated. The finished processed material typically has moisture levels that are at or slightly below the starting level.
The technical details and process steps are important, but the most important thing is that the spices and dehydrated ingredients you need meet or exceed your standards for both quality and safety. That’s exactly what Silva’s steam sterilization process lines deliver … every time.
You can have the confidence of knowing that if you need a confirmed pathogen kill step, or a clean micro-treatment process to meet a low microbiological specification, Silva has the experience, expertise, and technology to make it happen.