From data to insight: Assessing the decontamination efficacy of mild food processing technologies

Safe food production should control harmful microorganisms without unnecessarily changing product quality or increasing environmental impact. Mild processing technologies such as non-thermal plasma, pulsed electric fields and high-pressure processing can reduce the need for intense heating. Their effect, however, varies between foods, microorganisms and processing conditions. In this thesis, data from published studies were systematically collected and analysed to identify the factors that explain these differences. Statistical models and machine-learning methods were used to estimate microbial inactivation under different conditions. A standard structure for reporting non-thermal-plasma experiments was also developed. Finally, food-safety performance was compared with energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions. The results provide quantitative reference values for process design, validation, risk assessment and comparison of processing technologies.