SurePure, Inc. announced that its patented Turbulator technology has been demonstrated to be effective in containing alicyclobacillus in fruit juice and fruit concentrates. The alicyclobacillus bacteria is a genus of Gram positive, rod-shaped and sporeforming bacteria found to grow in acidic conditions with the spores able to survive typical pasteurization procedures. Juices can be treated using the SurePure technology, which uses ultraviolet (UV-C) light with a wavelength of 254 nm and has a germicidal effect against micro-organisms. Specifically, the SurePure treatment method was shown to reliably achieve in excess of a 5 log10 reduction (99.99%) per 0.5 kJ L-1 of UV-C dosage in juice, water and concentrates inoculated with A. acidoterrestris.

These bacteria can be a serious commercial problem because some of its strains are capable of producing a distinctive and powerful chemical taint in fruit-based drinks that are difficult to control once present in the processing environment. As they produce no gas the contamination is difficult to detect but financially damaging, resulting in consumer complaints and product withdrawals.