Dive Brief:
- 915 Labs is welcoming David Behringer, an award-winning food innovator, research and development executive, and certified professional chef, to its team as the company's new chief technology officer.
- Behringer will be tasked with commercializing 915 Labs' Microwave Assisted Thermal Sterilization (MATS) and Microwave Assisted Pasteurization System (MAPS) technologies, which provide companies with a healthier option for sterilizing and pasteurizing foods. The technologies expose the foods to high heat for less time than conventional processing methods.
- 915 Labs is the exclusive producer of these technologies.
Dive Insight:
"David's addition to 915 Labs immediately increases the value we deliver to our customers," 915 Labs CEO Mike Locatis said in a statement. "He has the requisite skills and industry experience in food science, manufacturing, engineering, and the culinary arts to help drive the success of our microwave sterilization and pasteurization systems in the marketplace."
By exposing food to high heat for shorter periods of time, these technologies "[preserve] nutrients, color, texture, and taste and eliminates the need for unnatural additives," as compared to conventional thermal processing, according to a news release. Such a technology would be beneficial for companies that hope to clean up their labels by removing artificial ingredients that were once needed for the food to sustain traditional processing methods.
High-pressure processing is another method companies are turning to for similar reasons, though the technology is still cost-prohibitive for many manufacturers. In place of heat, manufacturers use high pressure, which preserves the foods' nutrient levels while keeping chemicals out of the food.