A non-thermal food-processing technique used to extend shelf life of certain products as well as to create new food textures. Depending on the type of food, it typically uses isostatic pressures in the order of 300 to 800 MPa held for between 1 and 30 minutes. It has the benefit that important food qualities such as flavour, nutrition, and colour are not affected since the covalent bonds of food components including saccharides, vitamins, lipids, and pigments are able to resist the effects of high pressures. Pioneered by Percy Bridgman, commercial developments began in Japan around 1989. Today many foods worldwide are increasingly being processed by this technique, although the major limitation is the expensive pressure vessels required. It is also known as ultra-high-pressure processing.