Invention ‘revolutionises’ food industry production

Press, 18 December 1989, Page 40

Invention ‘revolutionises’ food industry production

NZPA-AAP Melbourne An Australian breakthrough in the use of microwave technology could revolutionise food production, according to Victoria’s Deakin University.

The invention could also be used to disinfect grain containing insects, to sterilise soil for commercial nurseries, and to season timber, a university spokeswoman said. The new system, developed by a Deakin University engineer, Professor Nguyen Tran, makes special use of microwave technology to achieve deeper and more uniform heat penetration of food and other substances.

The compact, special multi-sided heating unit invented by Dr Tran also saves energy costs and factory space. The substances to be heated pass through the

unit either on a conveyor belt or in a pyrex or plastic tube. Confectionary giant Mars is the first company to use the system, but Dr Tran said there had also been enquiries from the United States, Japan, Denmark and New Zealand. Dr Tran said the invention had countless applications in the food industry including roasting cocoa beans, drying pasta, baking bread, curing bacon and sterilising cream.

Tests also showed that wheat crops could be disinfected by heating the grain to a uniform 63deg C.

Previous attempts by researchers to use microwave power for commercial food production have failed because they could not guarantee uniform heating. Dr Tran said although

microwave heating was widely accepted for domestic use the food industry had been reluctant to adopt the technology.

“There is a mystique associated with technology and there is still a widely held belief that exposure to microwave energy will make people glow in the dark,” he said. “This is, of course, untrue and microwave power can be safer, more efficient and certainly much cheaper than other heating methods.”

Deakin University has taken out a world-wide patent on the invention, which evolved after 11 years of research by Dr Tran.

The Melbourne company, Stainless Associates, has been contracted to manufacture the microwave units.