Modern technocrats have discovered numerous methods to spoil our meals — like speedy heating of milk as much as 240 levels, zapping with microwaves, irradiating with radioactive supplies, spray drying at excessive temperatures, extruding at excessive temperatures and pressures and embalming with sugar. Now a brand new expertise has come on the scene: ultra-high strain utilized to quite a lot of meals for people, pets and infants.
HPP — High Pressure Processing
High Pressure Processing (HPP) is outlined as “a non-thermal meals and beverage processing approach based mostly on the appliance of excessive ranges of hydrostatic strain transmitted by water, with a number of benefits for meals and beverage corporations.” That strain is one thousand occasions the strain of air at sea degree — the equal of water strain in a marine trench.
You can learn all about it at hiperbaric.com and see the way it works for juice, for shelf steady meals able to eat, and for “uncooked” pet meals. HPP will open oysters with out troublesome shucking — after the processing, simply open together with your hand and the oysters — considerably discolored — slither out! The course of makes crab and lobster simpler to take away from their shells.
Examples of high-pressure processed merchandise commercially obtainable within the U.S. as we speak embrace fruit smoothies, guacamole, ready-to-eat meals with meat and greens, oysters, salad dressing, hummus, ham, rooster strips, fruit juice, salsa and fruit purees for infants. You gained’t discover any specific image displayed (as for irradiation) to point whether or not a product has undergone HP processing, however you would possibly see the phrases “chilly pasteurized.”
The meals business claims that “HPP has the potential to provide high-quality meals that show traits of recent merchandise, are microbiologically protected and have an prolonged shelf life.” The declare that HPP meals are “microbiologically protected” shouldn’t be precisely right.
What Are the Long-Term Health Effects of Eating HPP Food?
A 2008 assessment1 entitled “High-pressure processing — results on microbial meals security and meals high quality,” appeared on the results of excessive strain processing on varied pathogenic organisms and located that it didn’t eradicate all of them; the researchers discovered that spores have been particularly immune to excessive strain — simply as they’re immune to warmth.
But what we actually wish to find out about are the well being results — long-term well being results — of consuming HPP meals. As the business plunges headlong into excessive strain processing, nobody actually is aware of.
No research on long-term the feeding of HPP meals to mice or rats — and even canines getting HPP “uncooked” pet meals — seem within the literature. I did discover one research, revealed within the Journal of Dairy Science, 20192 which explored the feeding of HPP colostrum to calves. Said the researchers:
“The outcomes of this research recommend that top strain processing of bovine colostrum maintains an appropriate IgG degree whereas reducing bacterial and viral counts,” but additionally noticed:
“Calves fed pressure-processed colostrum had related serum IgG however decrease effectivity of absorption than calves fed heat-treated colostrum [emphasis added]. Changes in viscosity generally made calf feeding tougher, however nonetheless possible. Additional analysis to optimize this expertise for on-farm use is critical.”
The meals business is salivating over the concept of making use of HPP to take advantage of. The first to do that was the Mexican firm Villa de Patos, which claimed that it was “recent” (that’s “uncooked”) and had an elevated shelf life when refrigerated.
HPP Dairy Experience
A couple of years later, the New South Wales Food Authority authorised the commercialization of HPP milk within the Australian state. The firm, Made By Cow, developed a course of for the “protected manufacturing of by no means heated and non-homogenized milk,” which they might promote as “protected uncooked milk.” Indeed, the processing made the milk barely thicker and yellowish, which may mimic the viscosity and colour of Jersey milk even when it got here from Holstein cows!
With uncooked milk gross sales booming, and pasteurized milk gross sales declining, we are able to anticipate to see the dairy business launch “cold-processed” pressure-treated milk within the U.S. Will this milk have the identical advantages as actual uncooked milk? A letter revealed within the Summer 2021 situation of Wise Traditions3 signifies that the reply is not any!
“For a few years I’ve been consuming uncooked milk from a pastured dairy in France referred to as Gaborit,” wrote our correspondent. “However, due to COVID and closed borders, I used to be unable to acquire this milk for eleven months and was compelled to drink a substitute milk from Switzerland.
When I started to have hassle with my enamel, I started to suspect the likelihood that the native ‘uncooked’ milk (Rohmilch in German) may be thermized (heated) though to not the temperature of pasteurization (or maybe microfiltered or no matter).
What most aroused my suspicions was the expertise of a buddy, supposedly milk illiberal (and who hasn’t drunk animal milk for an excellent twenty years), who sneezed (pink eyes as a bonus) a couple of minutes after having taken a sip of this ‘native’ Rohmilch.
She made it clear to me how irritated she was by this expertise, and he or she fervently blamed herself for giving in to my suggestion. However, I need to admit that I used to be the primary to be stunned by the response she developed so shortly after ingesting only one sip. I had concluded that she was maybe one of many only a few individuals who have been actually illiberal to animal milk, even when it have been uncooked.
Nevertheless, a couple of weeks later, she agreed to check the Gaborit milk (from Jersey cows), which I once more had entry to. She not solely had no response to it, however she even felt so good that she drank an entire glass half an hour later.
During the eleven months with out the Gaborit milk, I developed 5 small cavities, as verified by my dentist. I had an appointment to have them stuffed, and whereas ready, was capable of get the French milk once more. I went to the dentist as we speak and he or she couldn’t consider her eyes.
In the house of lower than a month throughout which I used to be as soon as once more capable of acquire the actual licensed uncooked milk from France, all of the beforehand broken enamel had calcified and hardened as a form of self-healing, to the purpose that she advised me that there was nothing extra that wanted to be completed.
The milk produced by the Swiss dairy is biodynamic and has the Demeter label. The cows are brown Swiss. I subsequently assume that the cows are fed in line with anthroposophical tips. However, this dairy additionally produces pasteurized milk, so I questioned whether or not their Rohmilch is absolutely 100% uncooked and, above all, non-thermized.
When I contacted them, they assured me that the milk was not heat-treated in any approach, solely that they handed it via a cellulose membrane aimed to take away any impurities or dust from the milk — however I feel that is completed with all milk and isn’t a harmful course of until completed below excessive strain.”
We have no idea whether or not this milk was handed below strain via a membrane or subjected to the identical excessive strain processing methods now used for juice, smoothies and so many different “chilly processed” meals, however it’s clear that strain reduces the therapeutic properties of Nature’s excellent meals.
Since we do not know what HPP does to the dietary qualities of the meals we eat, it’s finest to train warning: make your individual salad dressing, salsa and guacamole, cook dinner from scratch, solely purchase oysters which were shucked earlier than you, and above all, stick with actual, uncooked milk bought straight from a farmer you understand.
About the Author
Sally Fallon Morell is creator of the best-selling cookbook Nourishing Traditions and plenty of different books on food regimen and well being. She is the founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org) and a founding father of A Campaign for Real Milk (realmilk.com). Visit her weblog at nourishingtraditions.com.