In less than one decade, high-pressure pasteurization (HPP) has developed into a legitimate, effective food-safety intervention and shelf-life extender for protein products. Processors such as Hormel Foods, Cargill, Sadler’s Smokehouse and J Bar B Foods, among others, have incorporated the technology over the years, and some in the industry predict 2011 will be “The Year of HPP” in the meat industry.
Furthermore, the business of HPP contract services (also known as “toll processing”) has grown to meet the demands of processors who cannot afford to jump on the HPP bandwagon with their own equipment just yet. One such company, Global Leading Foods (GL Foods) — which opened its doors in October 2010 in Coppell, Texas — hopes not only to ride the HPP wave, but also redefine what it means to be an HPP services provider.