Commercially Sterile Packaged Foods
Course ID: M02014J1
Credits: 3
Course Prerequisites: None
Course Description and Goals:
It was recognized that an increased number of outbreaks of illness in the world were associated with processed foods illustrating the danger of assuming that foods are free of pathogens simply because they are processed and packaged. It is important to understand the principles behind food processing operations and avoid food spoilage. The goal of this course is to provide the necessary knowledge about long-term preservation of packaged food.
Schedule Type: PowerPoint Slides
Course Schedule (subject to change):
1. introduction, overview, administrative regulation, microbiology of commercially sterile packaged foods
2. acidified foods, process authority, thermal processing principles
3. thermal process design
4. protocol for heat penetration studies
5. temperature distribution tests
6. temperature distribution protocol
7. process verification and validation
8. evaluation of process deviations
9. midterm exam
10. spoilage analysis
11. process room instrumentation, equipment and operation
12. records and record keeping
13. still retorts–pressure processing in steam, processing with overpressure, crateless retorts
14. hydrostatic retorts, agitating continuous retorts, agitating batch retorts
15. aseptic processing and packaging
16. food container handling, closures for metal containers, closures for glass containers 17. closures for semirigid and flexible containers, sanitation of the processing environment
18. final report