A new cutting-edge £1 million system from Greenvale AP promises to improve product quality, minimise cross-contamination, lengthen shelf life and save enough water to fill 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools every year.

The UK’s largest supplier of fresh potatoes is developing a radical potato cleaning system on its Tern Hill, Shropshire, site. The system is code-named Project Cascade and Greenvale aims to have it fully operational by the end of the year.

The company says that the very significant quality control benefits could change the way potatoes and all root vegetables are cleaned - while its water-saving potential will have a positive impact on both costs and the environment.

Andy Clarkson, general manager of Greenvale at Tern Hill, said: “We have developed a whole new approach to cleaning potatoes. One of the key aspects of Project Cascade is that we have brought together technologies from other areas of the food industry and wider industries, to solve some of the issues that all vegetable-processing facilities face.”

Greenvale is keeping the details of Project Cascade under wraps for the time being. But once it is proven, the company hopes that other potato and vegetable processors will follow its lead. “The benefits are, potentially, enormous,” added Clarkson. “The product quality is dramatically improved because we are washing in constantly regenerated water. Plus, the new system should all but eliminate the risk of bacterial cross-contamination, which is a huge problem for the industry.”

For customers and end users, the improved quality is an obvious benefit, while the fact that the potatoes will be bacteria-free means they will have a significantly longer shelf life.

Greenvale’s new system will also save enormous quantities of water and money. Tern Hill currently washes 140,000 tonnes of fresh potatoes per year, which uses up around 82 million litres of water. Project Cascade should cut this figure to just 18m litres. Project Cascade goes online after summer 2009 and trials should be completed before the end of the year.

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