The food-processing industry has made large investments in processing facilities relying mostly on conventional thermal processing technologies with well-established reliability and efficacy. Replacing them with one of the novel alternatives recently developed is a decision that must be carefully approached. Among them, high-pressure processing (HPP), at room or refrigerated temperature, is now a wellestablished option experiencing worldwide commercial growth. Surveys have shown an excellent consumer acceptance of HPP technology. For financial feasibility reasons, HPP treatments must be kept short, a challenge that can be met by some of the alternatives here reviewed such as the use of the hurdle technology concept. Although HPP technology is limited to pasteurization treatments, the combination of high pressure and high temperature used in pressureassisted thermal processing (PATP) can be used to sterilize foods. An analysis of alternatives to achieve the inactivation of bacterial spores at the lowest temperature possible highlights the need for additional research on the use of germinants. Because of incomplete research, PATP presents several implementation challenges, including the modeling of food temperature, the determination of inactivation kinetics particularly for bacterial spores, and the prediction of chemical changes including the potential formation of toxic compounds.

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Consumers demand, in addition to excellent eating quality, high standards of safety and nutrition in ready-to-eat food. This requires a continuous improvement in conventional processing technologies and the development of new alternatives. Prevailing technologies such as thermal processing can cause extensive and undesirable chemical changes in food composition while minimal processing strategies cannot eliminate all microbial pathogens. This review focuses on pressure-assisted thermal processing, a new alternative for shelf-stable foods. Its implementation requires an analysis of reaction kinetics at high pressure and elevated temperature. Acceleration of the inactivation of bacterial spores by the synergistic effect of pressure and temperature is expected to allow processing at lower temperature, shorter process time, or a combination of both. Therefore, thermal degradation of quality is expected to be lower than that of conventional thermal processes. However, few studies have focused on the effect of the conditions required for the inactivation of bacterial spores on the kinetics of chemical reactions degrading food quality, particularly at the high temperatures required for the processing of low-acid foods.

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