Equipment manufactured by French company Sairem will now be available in the UK, after Interfood Technology signed a new contract with the firm.
Sairem specialises in microwave tempering and defrosting equipment for the food industry, which allows meat to be thawed efficiently without drip loss.
Microwave tempering gives significant efficiency improvement over traditional chilled tempering room processes, the company said, with minimised labour input, and optimised factory space utilisation.
Simon Jubb is manager of Interfood Technology’s preparation division. “We are always looking at new opportunities to help improve existing food manufacturing processes and to meet the needs of our customers. We are all seeing continued focus on fresher, more natural foods without added preservatives. Microwave and radio frequency technologies sit well with this trend, the high thermal efficiencies and shorter processing times ensuring better preservation of organoleptic properties. Typically, payback can be of the order of several months, subject to existing drip losses which are sometimes overlooked. Most international organic certification bodies clearly cite microwaving as an authorised thermal process in the production of organic food.”