System developed for the decontamination of nuts and seeds to make them safe for human consumption without adverse effect on the organoleptic characteristics and appearance ( flavour/taste and colour).

The word “decontamination” is used as the process aims at a safe product and not at a sterile product; this means that micro-organism that are hazardous for heath or causing food spoilage shall be eliminated. Many processing plants are able to comply with these conditions, but not all of them without adverse effect on the quality of the final product that should please the consumer.

Not every product requires treatment with high pressure steam at temperatures above 100 °C and Ventilex has successfully designed and supplied continuous pasteurizing system for almonds in the USA. The system has been validated by the FDA after performing a 5 log reduction on Salmonella.

Our equipment is designed with the following goals in mind:

• 5 log kill of the salmonella and other bacteria
• Handling the nut (whether shelled or not) without damage
• Not changing the taste, appearance, or shelf life
• Keeping the nut or almond as “natural”  - allowing naturalist to be confident that the treated nut has not changed – it can be germinated

How do you select equipment?

The answer is simple: Believe what has been proven to work in the industry; Equipment that has a solid track record, not only for nuts, but is also accepted worldwide as the answer for sterilization and decontamination of Spices, Herbs, and Nuts. Equipment that has over 15 years of actual history in this specific area. That company is Ventilex.

Key benefits of Ventilex pasteurizing systems:

• Ventilex system can dry the steam treated nuts exactly to the moisture you want. If your nuts are 3,5% moisture before treatment, and you want them 5% after, that translates directly to money in the bank! The other manufacturers of equipment do not have the experience at drying that we have - they will over or under dry trying to hit a target moisture. Our advanced PLC programs with drying algorithms, temperature sensing instruments of the product assures the drying is accurate!
• Ventilex knows that the steam treatment of the nuts is critical to killing the SE PT30 bacteria. A belt conveyor won't work. The nuts must be fluidized so that the steam can condense on the entire surface.
• Ventilex also knows that if you put too much steam, for too long a time, the nut will swell or puff up, thus damaging the skin (and most likely keeping the nut from germinating - if desired) The steaming time, and pressure is paramount to the success of treating the nuts without changing the nut.
• Ventilex supplies you with all the equipment necessary for the treatment of your nuts. You install the equipment (or we can do it for you!) in a short time period. Our equipment is modular, which makes it a breeze to install.
• Special design features allow for the processing of ground products as well as whole products.

See for extra information our website: http://www.nutpasteurization.com