Lyras Technology to Improve Food Safety in Dairy Industry Vertical: Food Safety

More than 60 percent less water and 90 percent less energy are used in the patented Lyras technology, which improves quality, uptime, and efficiency compared to standard methods.

FREMONT, CA: UV light, a non-thermal technique, has recently garnered considerable attention for its potential to improve food safety. In comparison to thermal processing, this promising technique has the potential to give consumers minimally processed, microbiologically safe, and fresh-like items with minimal impact on the product's nutritional and sensory qualities. On the other hand, this technology should not be used for good hygiene, industrial, and agricultural practices. Patented UV light technology, which uses 90 percent less energy and 60 percent less water than typical heat/cool pasteurization procedures, will soon be available to U.S. dairy processors, allowing them to pasteurize milk and other non-transparent liquids more efficiently. The safe and sustainable cold pasteurization solution by Lyras, Inc., inactivates bacteria without heating the beverage, retaining its natural flavor and prolonging its shelf life, all while lowering carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the need for water, and expensive cleaning chemicals and equipment. Dairy processors using Lyras technology report decreased operating costs, improved product quality, more uptime, and better environmental compliance.

"Our claims might sound grand, but our studies show that if the global dairy industry switches to our patent protected UV light pasteurization process, we could each year save at least 40 million barrels of crude oil and enough drinking water to meet the needs of 45 million people," says Rasmus Mortensen, CEO, and founder of Lyras. "That doesn’t include all of the pipes, tanks and cleaners that would no longer be needed. If you add the use of this technology on juices, wine, beer and other liquids, theres potential for even greater environmental savings."

For the past six years, Lyras has been working on a patent-protected light filter that extends the range of UV light capabilities. Without heating or cooling, this filter allows only the precise UV wavelengths needed to eliminate microorganisms from milk without compromising product quality, inactivating even the most thermoresistant bacteria and spores.

“Our goal is to make a real difference in the worldwide dairy industry by creating significant CO2 savings,” says Mortensen, who has won a series of awards for Lyras such as the Climate Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 and a regional EY Entrepreneur of The Year. “We’ll know we’re successful when we see our customers have greatly reduced their energy, water and chemical consumption with our safe and energy-saving technology. The more we grow, the greater green transformation we can help create. That is our true motivation and the future of pasteurization.”