Lecture: 4 TEMPERATURE CONTROL

Inadequate food temperature control is one the most common causes for food borne
illness or food spoilage. Such controls include time and temperature of cooking, cooling,
processing and storage. Systems should be in place that temperature is controlled effectively
where it is critical to the safety and suitability of food. Temperature control system should
take into account:

 The nature of the food like water activity, pH and the initial level and types of micro-
organisms
 The intended shelf life of the product
 The method of packing and processing
 The intended use of the product like ready to eat or ready to cook or ready to process

Pasteurization

Pasteurization is a process that kills microbes (mainly bacteria) in food and drink,
such as milk, juice, canned food, and others. Unlike sterilization, pasteurization is not
intended to kill all microorganisms in the food. Instead, it aims to reduce the number of
viable pathogens so they are unlikely to cause disease (assuming the pasteurized product is
stored as indicated and is consumed before its expiration date).

Pasteurization of packaged and unpacked food

Packaged food

Pasteurization of packaged food can be done by a number of methods as described below.

a) Water bath pasteurization – For acidic foods that can be sterilized at 100 0C or below and
non-sterile meat items, water bath is one of the simplest methods. As pasteurization employs
heat, after processing the containers are cooled to 40 0C, which also facilitates evaporation of
surface water, which in turn minimizes external corrosion of metal containers.

b) Continuous steam or water spray pasteurizer – Used extensively in beer and acidic
food products, in this process different temperature zones are applied for maximum efficacy
(preheat, second preheat, pasteurizing zone, pre-cooling, cooling and final cooling).

c) Tunnel sterilization: A tunnel consisting of active temperature-pressure control system,

conveyer for transporting containers and screens or check valves to separate conditioning
systems (temperature controls are maintained).
Unpacked foods:

a) Low temperature Long time (LTLT) pasteurization - The milk is heated to 62.80C for
30 min. Milk simply labelled "pasteurized"

b) Flash pasteurization – The process of heating fruit juices for only a short time at a higher
temperature than pasteurization temperature of the juice, here juices are heated for at 71.5 0C
temperatures for 15 seconds (just higher by 5 0C) and filled into containers and sealed airtight.
The main advantage of this process is retention of vitamins, minimum flavour loss and
retaining the taste

c) Ultra high temperature pasteurization – UHT, also known as ultra-heat treating,

processing holds the milk at a temperature of 140 °C (284 °F) for four seconds. Milk labelled
"ultra-pasteurized" or simply "UHT" has been treated with the UHT method. Desired because
of greater bacterial destruction or its beneficial effects on texture in ice cream.

Effects of pasteurization of foods

Pasteurization is a relatively mild heat treatment therefore there are only minor
changes in the nutritional characteristics of most foods.

a) Colour changes: The difference in whiteness of raw milk and pasteurized milk is due to
homogenization and pasteurization has no measurable effect. Whereas in oranges, colour
changes has been observed

b) Enzyme activity: In fruit juices enzymatic browning by Polyphenol oxidase is promoted

by the presence of oxygen, for preventing browning, fruit juices are deaerated prior to
pasteurization

c) Aroma: A small loss in volatile aroma can cause reduction in quality and also unmask
other cooked flavours. In milk, hay like aroma is lost during pasteurization resulting in
blander product.

d) Minerals: In milk products, soluble calcium and phosphorus levels may decrease by 5%

e) Vitamins: there will be slight loss of Vitamin C during pasteurization and subsequent
storage, which again depends on the temperature and time. Generally, thiamine (vitamin B1)
and vitamin B12 (cobalamin) levels by 10%, and vitamin C levels by 20%

f) Shelf life: Generally, shelf life of pasteurized foods is usually extended by few days to
weeks and some instances several months.
Evaporation, Main functions of Evaporation

Evaporation refers to the process of heating liquid to the boiling point to remove
water as vapour. Because milk is heat sensitive, heat damage can be minimized by
evaporation under vacuum to reduce the boiling point. The removal of water from foods
provides microbiological stability, reduces deteriorative chemical reactions, and reduces
transportation and storage costs. Both evaporation and dehydration are methods used in the
dairy industry.

Evaporation equipment’s

i) Batch pan evaporators are the simplest and oldest. They consist of spherical shaped,
steam jacketed vessels. The heat transfer per unit volume is small requiring long residence
times. Batch plants are of historical significance; modern evaporation plants are far-moved
from this basic idea.

ii) Rising film evaporators consist of a heat exchanger isolated from the vapour separator.
The heat exchanger, or calandria, consists of 10- to 15-meter-long tubes in a tube chest which
is heated with steam. The liquid rises by percolation from the vapours formed near the bottom
of the heating tubes. The thin liquid film moves rapidly upwards. The product may be
recycled if necessary to arrive at the desired final concentration.

iii) The falling film evaporators are the most widely used in the food industry. They are
similar in components to the rising film type except that the thin liquid film moves downward
under gravity in the tubes. A uniform film distribution at the feed inlet is much more difficult
to obtain. The residence time is 20-30 sec. as opposed to 3-4 min. in the rising film type. The
tubes are 8-12 meters long and 30-50 mm in diameter.

iv) Multiple Effect Evaporators: Two or more evaporator units can be run in sequence to
produce a multiple effect evaporator. Each effect would consist a heat transfer surface, a
vapour separator, as well as a vacuum source and a condenser. The vapours from the
preceding effect are used as heat source in the next effect. There are two advantages to
multiple effect evaporators:

 economy - they evaporate more water per kg steam by re-using vapours as heat
sources in subsequent effects
 improve heat transfer - due to the viscous effects of the products as they become more
concentrated
DEHYDRATION

Dehydration refers to the nearly complete removal of water from foods to a level of
less than 5%. Although there are many types of driers, spray driers are the most widely used
type of air convection drier. It is limited to food that can be atomized, i.e., liquids, low
viscosity pastes, and purees. Drying takes place within a matter of seconds at temperatures
approximately 200°C.

Objectives

1. Preserve the product for prolonged periods

2. Reduction of the moisture content results in preservation of quality characteristics such as

flavour and nutritive value

3. Ensure significant reduction in product volume, which promotes efficiency in

transportation and storage of the important components of the food product

4. To provide or manufacture a product which is convenient to use

Dehydration systems

Air drying: Foodstuffs may be dried in air, superheated steam, vacuum, or inert gas or by
direct application of heat. Air is the most used drying medium, because it is plentiful and
convenient and permits gradual drying, allowing sufficient control to avoid overheating that
might result in scorching and discoloration. Air may be used both to transport heat to the food
being dried and to carry away liberated moisture vapour.

Spray drying is a method of producing a dry powder from a liquid or slurry by rapidly
drying with a hot gas. This is the preferred method of drying of many thermally-sensitive
materials such as foods and pharmaceuticals. A consistent particle size distribution is a reason
for spray drying becoming popular.

Vacuum Drying is especially beneficial to fruits and vegetables.