The Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute for Food Safety and Health completed another successful Annual Meeting on September 27, 2017. Gerald Ludwick, All Natural Freshness, introduced the Food Processing Center of Excellence at IFSH with a focus on a High Pressure Processing (HPP) in Chicago to make the technology accessible to more food companies. The center will not only educate the Global Community on HPP but provide a resource for companies to gain access to the market at the speed of business.

There are tremendous resources in Illinois within the bread basket of America which has sprung a new consortium to help food companies understand cutting edge HPP technology and its benefits. HPP applications include food processing, equipment engineering and maintenance, considerations in designing validation and challenge studies for microbial inactivation, and commercialization case studies. “Starting in Chicago makes all the sense in the world due to its high concentration of manufacturers and food industry suppliers from packaging to equipment” said Alan Reed, president of Chicagoland Food.

The additional access to High Pressure Processing technology has been provided by an authoritative collaboration of organizations which includes:IFSH, ConnectFood.com (a leading food safety software-as-a-service provider), and Chicagoland Food and Beverage Network(bringing the world’s largest food and beverage community the tools it needs to succeed), and All Natural Freshness (a global expert in high pressure processing technologies).

Alisha Tarrance of Superior Foods states how helpful All Natural Freshness has been: “Extremely professional, courteous, and definitely understands the need in a food manufacturer. All Natural Freshness has a full understanding of the end user and customer expectations, and an even greater understanding of the food manufacturing business. They run at the speed of your business to help guide you in the right direction.”

The launch of this game-changing High Pressure Processing Center of Excellence will make available new resources that Educate, Elevate and Communicate the best practices for the global food manufacturing industry.

More About IFSH
The Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH) is a one-of-a-kind applied food science research consortium comprised of Illinois Institute of Technology, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the food industry. In collaboration with the FDA, we provide stakeholders with the opportunity to develop and exchange knowledge, experience, and expertise in the areas of food safety, food defense, food processing, and nutrition. IFSH represents a unique collaboration between industry, academia, and regulatory authorities. IFSH is composed of 30 food scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and over 30 IFSH professionals working together to solve industry issues and problems. The IFSH team has also taken the lead on educating the United States and other countries regarding the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

More About All Natural Freshness
All Natural Freshness has become a sales, marketing, and education resource concerning all things related to HPP.

More About Connect Food
The ConnectFood team is a group of food safety and food innovation experts, including specialty scientists, researchers, field experienced professionals, and legal and regulatory analysts. These are people with worldly experience not only in technology, but in the food industry. To create this library of knowledge, we’ve brought together university professors, owners of businesses, government regulators, and other food experts.
Based in Chicago, ConnectFood was founded by entrepreneurs who believed that any size company should have the opportunity to start, run, grow, and safely produce new food products.

More About Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network
The Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network is a food and beverage cluster organization that is a hub among firms, service providers, government, academia, and a wide range of stakeholders. Our key functions include:
Leveraging the benefits of networking, sharing costs, and collaboration, connecting firms to disparate resources, and identifying and developing new products and services with partner organizations.