Environmental impact of novel thermal and non-thermal technologies in food processing

During the last 25 years, consumer demands for more convenient and varied food products have grown exponentially, together with the need for faster production rates, improved quality and extension in shelf life. These requests together with the severity of the traditional food processing technologies were driving forces for improvements in existing technologies and for the development of new food preservation technologies. Therefore, many technological developments have been directed towards unit operations such as pasteurization, sterilization, cooking and drying, and currently the new technological approaches for food preservation are serious candidates to replace the traditional well-established preservation processes. The aim of this review is to discuss the environmental impact that some of the most promising novel food preservation technologies may represent in terms of energy efficiency, water savings and reduced emissions. The emergence of novel thermal and non-thermal technologies allows producing high quality products with improvements in terms of heating efficiency and, consequently, in energy savings. Most of these technologies are locally clean processes and therefore appear to be more environment-friendly, having less environmental impact than the traditional ones. Novel processing technologies are increasingly attracting the attention of food processors once they can provide food products with improved quality and a reduced environmental footprint, while reducing processing costs and improving the added-value of the products.