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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #285245

Title: High pressure processing and its application to the challenge of virus-contaminated foods

Author
item Kingsley, David

Submitted to: Food and Environmental Virology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/23/2012
Publication Date: 2/2/2013
Citation: Kingsley, D.H. 2013. High pressure processing and its application to the challenge of virus-contaminated foods. Food and Environmental Virology. 5:1-12.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: High pressure processing (HPP) is an increasingly popular non-thermal food processing technology. Study of HPP’s potential to inactivate foodborne viruses has defined general pressure levels required to inactivate hepatitis A virus, norovirus surrogates, and human norovirus itself within foods such as shellfish and produce. The sensitivity of a number of different picornaviruses to HPP is variable. Experiments suggest that HPP inactivates viruses via denaturation of capsid proteins which render the virus incapable of binding to its receptor on the surface of its host cell. Beyond the primary consideration of treatment pressure level, the effects of extending treatment times, temperature of initial pressure application, and matrix composition have been identified as critical parameters for designing HPP inactivation strategies.