The food we eatNew technology to boost food security

Back-to-back disasters in Luzon, the Philippines, since late September not only led to the loss of many lives and destruction of property and infrastructure, but also disruptions in food supply. Power outages resulting from widespread flooding rendered meat, fish and vegetables scarce and beyond the reach of ordinary consumers. Ernesto Hilario writes, though, that in times of crisis, a new technology developed by a Filipino inventor, Hernie Decena, could assure adequate food supply.

The new technology is called brine-immersion freezing, or BIF. BIF is described as a “revolutionary method” for preserving aquatic products, meat, fruits, and non-leafy vegetables using super-conductive liquid instant freeze. By preventing crystallization, liquid instant freeze preserves the freshness, flavor, and texture of food products. With proper processing using BIF, fish and meat can be stored for two to three days in styrofoam boxes without using ice, and up to six months when stored in freezers or chillers. BIF-frozen fish, for instance, will taste as fresh or as good as newly caught fish when grilled or cooked in other ways.

Brine-immersion freezing has many advantages over conventional methods. For one, it takes as little as 3 to 30 minutes, depending on the type, size, and volume of the product to be processed, while the air-blast system takes three to four hours. Another advantage of the new technology is its mobility and easy plug-in feature. A BIF compartment with a wheeled stand is only as big as a chest-type refrigerator or freezer, thus making it easy to transport and move around. The conventional air-blast freezer needs to be permanently put in place and requires large installation works.

The BIF freezer is as easy to use as a microwave oven. Fish, meat, fruits, or non-leafy vegetables start to freeze upon reaching the ideal freezing temperature of between minus 30 degrees and minus 40 degrees.

Marginal fisherfolk who depend on ice to preserve their catch stand to benefit from this new technology. Consumers, too, benefit because they can buy or purchase two-day-old or three-day-old stored fish and yet are assured that this will taste as fresh as newly caught ones.

BIF freezers can be used as ice-making machines, producing ice equivalent to a load of 3,000 kilos a day in less than two freezing hours per loading of a 10-kilo mini block ice, unlike a conventional block-ice maker that takes 37 hours to freeze a 130-kilo block of ice in an ice plant that has a capacity of 20 to 60 tons per day.

Instant quick-freeze refrigeration can handle about 500 kilos of products within 20 to 60 minutes, with a power consumption of 500kW/ton, and requires at least 10 people and 150 square meters of space. BIF uses only 120kW/ton to freeze 500 kilos of products in 3 to 15 minutes. It requires only four people to operate, and 40 square meters of floor space.

BIF uses alcohol, which is a disinfectant, sterilizer, and antiseptic solution, as a secondary refrigerant, thus ensuring the safety and cleanness of the frozen items.

BIF’s ultra-low freezing point — minus 30 to minus 40 degrees Celsius — means that no bacteria or microorganisms will survive, thus the taste, aroma, and texture of the product stay the same as before freezing.

Hilario writes that Decena and his group actually improved upon the Chinese technology of quick freeze to make it a more compact, more cost-effective, user-friendly, and multi-functional piece of equipment. BIF is safe as it has been approved by the Philippines Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and has passed the University of the Philippines Pharmacology and Toxicology test.

BIF will have a positive impact on the Philippines’s food-security program. With BIF, farm produce can be frozen at the source of harvest, and their freshness and quality can be preserved for as long as six months when kept in a freezer at a temperature of minus 18 degrees. Highly perishable products like fish can be transported for 24 to 72 hours without ice. This cutting-edge technology can play an important role in keeping the supply and prices of basic food items stable both for the benefit of consumers and local producers.

Hilario writes that t would do well for the Philippines government to disseminate this superior technology throughout the country. With precious farm produce remaining fit for human consumption even after long periods of storage, farmers, agribusiness entrepreneurs, and consumers all benefit, especially in emergency situations caused by natural calamities.