New process could extend life of fresh milk and juice

Russian inventors working with a Rochester-area company and Purdue University are trying to bring a new technology to food processors in the United States that could extend the shelf life of refrigerated milk by weeks if not months.

The technology might also make it possible for a processor of fresh juices to distribute over a much larger area because the juice would remain fresh during longer transit times.

More than 30 consultants and industry representatives learned about the technology last week when JCS Process & Control Systems Engineering held a forum about beverage processing at the Lodge at Woodcliff.

JCS, headquartered on Metro Park in Brighton, handles engineering of food processing systems and has an exclusive license to develop the pasteurization process developed by Millisecond Technologies (MST) of New York City. Millisecond’s principals are from Moscow.  JCS CEO Philip R. Frechette, who discussed pros and cons of common pasteurization techniques at the forum, is also the chief technical officer for MST.

MST has been funding research on the process at Purdue University by Professor Bruce M. Applegate, a microbiologist.

According to Andrei Arofikin, the Russian inventor who came up with the MST process over the last 15 years, the technology grew out of a process designed to kill pathogens in blood. The MST process breaks the liquid into micro-droplets so small that no fats or other structures can hitch a ride and buffer the sterilizing effect of the heat. As a result, the heat is more effective and can be used for a much shorter time.

Frechette said in most of the world consumers use shelf-stable milk that has been rendered safe to use without refrigeration by treating it with very high temperatures for an extended period of time. The high temperatures kill potential pathogens, but also change the proteins and the flavor of the milk. Americans tend to prefer the taste of milk pasteurized at lower temperatures, or for a shorter amount of time, even though that milk has to be refrigerated and it spoils sooner.

The MST process is already in use in Puerto Rico, where Frechette lived for 14 years. “JCS for 14 years did every major (food processing) project in Puerto Rico,” he said. In May, Vaqueria Tres Monjitas, one of two main milk processors on the island, announced that it had adopted MST technology in its efforts to gain a larger share of the Puerto Rican milk market and expand to the Virgin Islands.

Tres Monjitas President Jaime Fonalledas told Caribbean Business the MST process offers his company’s milk products “the greatest durability, to provide a fresh milk product that is superior to that we now know. We began the celebration of our second centenary with the most important innovation in the industry since they awarded the milk produced in Puerto Rico ‘grade A.’”

Frechette said MST-treated milk products in Puerto Rico are already on shelves in Sam’s Club, Walmart and supermarkets as well as sold by restaurant chains such as Subway and McDonald’s.

Given the devastation of the Puerto Rican economy by Hurricane Maria, “This is kind of like a breath of fresh air from something investing in Puerto Rico,” Frechette said.

Not only does the process triple or quadruple the shelf life of milk, the developers are tweaking it with the aim of having it certified as a process for creating shelf-stable milk.

Just as MST kills bacteria in milk, it can also dispatch yeasts in juices that start to grow over time and spoil the juice. But there’s another beneficial side effect, Applegate said:  “It enhances the flavor because the process releases volatile oils.”

This isn’t for your average canned apple juice that already has a long shelf life. The developers said the MST process is for the kind of juices that most people consume only fresh, such as mango juice or coconut water fresh from the shell. They claim the process keeps those fresh flavors longer.

“If you’re dealing with a premium juice, you won’t get the caramelization or off-color,” Applegate said.

Frechette said JCS has a presence in the Philippines, where it expects to use MST on coconut and mango products. He envisions Filipino fast-food giant Jollibee, which has about 1,000 stores in the Philippines and more than 100 stores in Indonesia, being able to use the technology in its fresh coconut drinks.

But what makes Frechette’s eyes really glow is the thought of the growing number of Asian students who come to the United States and are disappointed to realize that fresh, tropical juices readily available on the streets of China, Singapore, Indonesia and other countries are nowhere to be found here. That could change with MST.

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