Pasadena-based Company Leads in Pasteurization-Sterilization Technology for Nuts, Seeds, Cereals

A newly Pasadena-headquartered company distributes equipment and technology that makes sure that low-moisture foods such as nuts, seeds and spices are free from food-borne pathogens before they are distributed to retail outlets and sold to customers.

Napasol North America, an affiliate of Switzerland-based Napasol AG, recently moved its headquarters from Fargo, North Dakota, to Pasadena to take advantage of the growing opportunities for the pasteurization of nuts in California and get closer to customers in this key nut industry market.

Nuts, seeds and spices have recently come under scrutiny by health regulators and the food industry because of risks associated with such pathogens as Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes. In recent years, companies, brands and entire product categories have incurred huge costs because of the fallout from food-borne illness outbreaks and product recalls due to these pathogens.

Napasol supplies pasteurization and sterilization technology and equipment to producers of low-moisture food products including nuts, dried fruit, seeds, herbs and spices, cereals and cereal mixes, and botanicals and pet food.

The Napasol pasteurization technology uses a combination of steam and vacuum to effectively eliminate, in a fully documented kill-step, pathogenic microorganisms in low moisture food products.

“The Napasol technology has demonstrated to be the most effective on the market for pasteurizing low moisture foods and has been validated to FDA pasteurization standards over a wide range of nuts and seeds,” Cameon Ivarsson, CEO of Napasol North America, said.

Napasol now leads in the market with large installations operating in the walnut and hazelnut industries and with processors who handle a wide range of nuts. Preheated and then exposed to dry saturated steam, the nuts no longer have to go through a post-pasteurization drying step. This saturated steam process maintains the color, bite, texture and taste, as well as moisture and water activity levels of the raw nuts.

One of its major products is called Statisol, designed for the pasteurization of low-moisture products with a delicate surface and ideally suited for tree nuts, seeds and dried fruit. The other products is the blender-pasteurizer Rotosol, which is ideally suited for powders, cereal mixes, seeds, animal feed, botanicals, and raw materials for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.

Napasol AG’s other worldwide affiliates include Napasol Servizzi Tecnici in Spresiano, Italy and Napasol Asia in Hong Kong.

For more information about the company, visit www.napasol.com.