Reference no: EM133282107

Find a thermally processed product in your kitchen, local grocery store, or online. Describe how it's packaging and storage conditions indicate which thermal processing method was used.

Thermal Processing (TP) and packaging materials used in TP are designed to kill microorganisms and extend the food's shelf life.

Blanching mainly inactivates undesirable enzymes in food. It is usually used in combination with other preservation (processing) methods.

The magnitude of the thermal process will have a different impact on the food's preservation. E.g. Pasteurization destroys pathogens and only some of the spoilage-causing microorganisms, whereas commercial sterilization destroys both pathogens and spoilage-causing microorganisms.

Heat treatments are determined using "thermal death curves" (TDRC, TDTC). These curves provide important information of the survival and heat-resistance of different microorganisms, the effect of different temperatures, etc.

UHT with aseptic packaging allows food to be stored at room temperature.

A wide margin of safety is desired in order to ensure that Clostridium botulinum is destroyed.

Conduction and convection are mechanisms of heat transfer.

Some food constituents can have a "protective" effect on food that is being thermally processed

Different packaging materials have a specific use for the different types of thermal processing methods.

Reference

Potter, N. N. and J.H. Hotchkiss. 1995 or 1998. Heat Preservation and Processing in Food Science, 5th ed. Chapman and Hall, New York, NY. Chapter 8.