SurePure initiates commercial photopurification trials at Indian dairies

South African-based SurePure announced yesterday that commercial trials of its Turbulator photopurification technology, which uses ultra-violet (UV-C) light to purify microbiologically sensitive liquids like milk, had begun at a number of dairies in India, now the world's biggest milk producer.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) granted SurePure's photopurification technology approval as an alternative process to thermal pasteurization for milk and other dairy products in July 2013.

SurePure said at the time the technology would be "ideal for the Indian dairy operating and environment"​ as it would enabled small and large dairies to "save money and improve the quality of the final product."​

Commenting yesterday, Guy Kebble, CEO, SurePure said: “We believe that SurePure brings a cutting-edge milk processing alternative to India."​

“The robust SurePure technology retains the integrity of milk while delivering milk in its most nutritious form to the consumers.”​

South African trial

SurePure is also seeking dairy approval for its photopurification technology on home soil in South Africa, from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is awaiting novel foods approval from the European Commission (EC).

Earlier this year, in July, SurePure published the preliminary results of a commercial trial of its Turbulator technology at a South African cheese plant.​

Oak Springs Dairy, which processes around 20,000 litres of milk per day on its cheddar lines, reported energy cost savings of around 75% using SurePure's photopurification technology when compared to traditional pasteurization techniques. 

It also reported an increase in yield and improved flavour. 

Kebble told DairyReporter.com at the time that the "commercial appetite"​ for its patented technology would increase as the data supporting the benefits grew. 

“Naturally as the body of academic and business data supporting both the energy savings and food safety aspects of SurePure’s process swells, we believe that this serves to increase the commercial appetite for the technology and reassure approval bodies,”​ said Kebble.

“The postulate has been supported by our experience in India, for example, where the regulatory authorities have fast-tracked the approval of our technology," ​he added.