A confectioner named Nicolas Appert experimented for 14 years and in 1809 won Napoleon's prize for his preservation method of sealing foods in airtight bottles and immersing them in boiling water for varying periods. The NFPA grew out of the National Canners Association, founded in 1907. The name change in 1978 reflects today's broader processing options. Jeffrey T. Barach, a food scientist and microbiologist who directs NFPA's laboratory in Washington, D.C., gave an overview of emerging technologies.
Food packaged for final distribution is exposed to a measured amount of intense radiant energy.
This ionizing radiation penetrates food, destroying parasites and microorganisms such as E. coli and salmonella. In use on wheat and wheat flour since 1963, it's approved for pork, poultry, fruits and vegetables. The Food and Drug Administration in December approved irradiation for red meat, though the U.S. Department of Agriculture still has to approve processing procedures. Food sealed in a flexible container is placed in a hydraulic chamber, where it undergoes hundreds of thousands of pounds of water pressure for several minutes. The bacteria respond like tiny balloons, deflating and dying as their cell walls are perforated.