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The increased incidence of foodborne illness and the growing use of chemical sanitizers in the food industry led the authors to an investigation of alternative, chemical-free methods of sanitizing surfaces using fiber cloths with hot water. The sanitizing performance of kitchen fiber cloths and all-purpose fiber cloths sanitized with hot water at 167[degrees]F (75[degrees]C) was compared with that of generic cloths such as antibacterial cloths and cleaning cloths sanitized with hot water at 167[degrees]F (75[degrees]C) or chemical sanitizers--quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) and hypochlorite. The QAC sanitizer resulted in the lowest overall concentrations of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The sanitizing performance of the kitchen fiber cloths was similar to that of the antibacterial cloths (S. aureus: p = .144; E. coli: p = .120) and cleaning cloths (S. aureus: p = .297; E. coli: p = .062) sanitized with QAC. Use of the fiber cloths resulted in lower concentrations of bacteria on stainless-steel kitchen surfaces, compared with the use of the generic cloths sanitized with hot water at 167[degrees]F (75[degrees]C). Concentrations of bacteria on the surfaces after use of the all-purpose fiber cloths were similar to concentrations of bacteria after use of the generic cloths sanitized with hypochlorite., Introduction The incidence of foodborne illness in Australia is estimated at an average of 4.2 million cases each year; approximately 11,500 people succumb to foodborne illnesses in Australia each day [...]

The U.S. food supply data series, beginning with 1909, reports the amounts of nutrients available for consumption on a per capita and per day basis. Estimates of nutrients in the food supply are used to monitor the potential of the food supply to meet the nutritional needs of the U.S. population, to examine historical trends, and to evaluate changes in the American diet. Significant changes in food supply nutrients and food commodities providing these nutrients have occurred since 1909. This report (1) provides information on availability and consumption of the major food groups of the food supply; highlights nutrient availability and contributions of vitamin A, folate, calcium, and potassium from these food groups for 1909, 1945, 1970, and 2000; and provides a discussion of critical events since 1909 that were responsible for changes in nutrients and food commodities in the U.S. food supply., The variety and types of food commodities in the U.S. food supply and the nutrients they provide have undergone significant changes since 1909. In the 1930s, advancements in food-processing technologies [...]

A comprehensive listing of manufacturers of food additives and their products is presented.

New food industry technology developments being marketing to laboratories are discussed. From various companies, they include, among other things, a food color measurement meter, a hand-held mechanical tester for texture and tension determination, fluid bed dryers, a colony counting system, HACCP software, an electronic nose and tongue, meat species assay equipment, and a laboratory refractometer.

Instruments called electronic tongues constitute a new dimension in sensory analysis and are discussed by the marketing manager, the product manager and the project manager, Alpha MOS (France). Alpha MOS has launched an electronic tongue for analysis of taste and nonvolatile chemical typically found in liquids. Bitterness in beer, quality of high-fructose corn syrup, apple juice quality, and testing for them are discussed.

Brief reviews of laboratory equipment exhibits at the 2001 Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting and its Food Expo are presented. The issue of non-genetically-modified organisms (non-GMO) labeling is discussed. Minute quantities of central nervous system tissue and meats, either raw or cooked, can be detected by equipment from ABC Research Corp that uses an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique developed at Colorado State Univ. Companies whose products or services are covered include Silliker Laboratories Group, Inc., Woodson-Tenent Labs, Inc., a division of Eurofins Scientific, Memphis, TN, and Promega Corp.

New developments in high-temperature, short-time (HTST) processing to achieve pasteurization and sterilization are discussed. HTST processing would include processing at 161 degrees F. for 15 sec for milk pasteurization or higher temperatures and shorter times. Temperatures above 280 degrees F.are usually called ultra high. An example of HTST is ohmic heating, as in the Nestle Carnation Flash 18 system using a pressure chamber 18 psi above ambient for particulate foodservice products in No. 10 cans. Tubular heat exchangers, steam injection/infusion, cylindrical reactors using focused micowaves, and a combination of HTST processing, hot-filling, and in-container sterilization are discussed, as are baby food, soups, and juices not from concentrate. Companies whose products are discussed include Industrial Microwaves Systems, Washington Farms, Land O' Lakes, Pressure Pack. Several university programs are discussed.

New food-processing equipment and services are being developed. From MCD Technologies comes the Refractance Window dryers and evaporators. They use water to dry delicate materials to maintain high levels of aroma/essence/flavor and color. The company has an affiliate in Colombia manufacturing a line of fruit/vegetable flakes and powders dried using the technology. Ecolab has formed a strategic partnership with irradiation technology provider IBA, and another with FreshLoc Technologies and innovator in wireless food safety technology. Other companies discussed are International Processing, Littleford Day, Stephan Machinery, Flavourtech Americas, NDC Infrared Engineering, Vector, Foster-Miller, Diehl, Flow International , IFP Custom Processing, Liquid Solids Controls, Mane, Niro, Readco Manufactruing, Thar Designs, Webber/Smith Associates, National Drying Machinery, and Westfalia Separator. Research groups at universities and the Central Food Technological Research Inst, Mysore India are discussed, as is the National Center for Food Safety and Technology.

New-generation lab equipment is discussed. Quality and safety are emphasized in new products. Companies whose products are covered include ATS Rheosystems, Agilent Technologies, IQ Scientific Instruments, bioMerieux, CEM, Fiso Technologies (Canada), Instron, Isco, Neogen, Decagon Devices, Omnimark Instrument, Zymark, Kett, Armfield, Setaram. BioValidity offers a dietary supplement encyclopedia. Business organization changes have taken place at Eurofins Scientific, Silliker bioMerieux, Conex (Netherlands), and Cole-Parmer Instrument. Industrial Laboratories and several university laboratories have found new laboratory techniques.

Electronic nose instruments depend on the recognition of volatile and semi-volatile compounds which interact with biological sensors because of unique qualities and characteristics. Many food companies, and other companies, too, need them to reliably measure and identify quality factors and for use in product development. They include a chemical sensing system, perhaps a sensor array or spectrometer, and a pattern recognition system. Human sensory evaluation has been a powerful method but has limitations. Companies and agencies whose products and processes are discussed include M&M/Mars, Anheuser-Busch, Frito-Lay, Perkin-Elmer, Osmetech (Hollis, NH, formerly AromaScan and based on technology from the Univ. of Manchester Inst. of Science and Tech. (UK), HKR Sensorsysteme GmbH, Alpha MOS (Hillsborough, NJ), Nordic Sensor Technologies, Cyrano Sciences, Univ. of Warwick (UK), Silsoe Research Inst. (UK), Cranfield Biotechnology Centre (UK), and the Florida Dept. of Citrus, which does purity testing.

New food analysis instrumentation is discussed. Immunochemical methods are being developed for pesticide analysis, with ELISA the most important. Luminescence technology is also used to test for insecticide residues. Companies and institutions whose products are discussed include Brinkmann Instruments, Perkin-Elmer, AnalytiChem Corp., Charm Sciences and the Kyung Hee University in South Korea, which has developed a new method for vitamin analysis using HPLC and a column-switching technique based on polymer-coated mixed-function phase and a C18 semi-micro column which has been used with soy milk.

Use of magnets for measuring temperature and residence time distribution in aseptic processing of foods containing particulates is discussed. The requirements of the FDA, the filing with the FDA and acceptance of a thermal process for cream of potato soup by Tetra Pak, and research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, are considered.

Laboratory products that aid food processors are discussed relative to what was exhibited at the 1999 Intnl Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting and Expo. Quality control and laboratory technology make up a large fraction of the subject matter of the meeting, although product development and ingredient technology are the major topics. Volume production brings new challenges to food processors and they are very interested in hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems for food plants. New instruments are being designed to give analytical information at the plant floor and to maintain good selectivity, sensitivity and stability. More instruments for microbial testing are now on the plant floor instead of in the lab. Companies whose products are discussed include Alpha M.O.S., Perkin Elmer LLC, Isco Inc., IQ Scientific Instruments Inc., Orion Research Inc., Hunter Associates Laboratory Inc., Silliker Laboratories, Qualicon, Diffchamb AB (Sweden), 3M Microbiology Products, Idexx Laboratories, Oxoid (Canada), Northwest Analytical Inc., Instron Corp. and Celsis Intnl.

Microwave food processing is increasingly used for processes other than drying, among them tempering or precooking of meat for further processing. Almost all bacon for foodservice use is pre-microwaved and almost 10% of bacon sold in the supermarket is microwaved in advance. This process can be done at the rate of 80,000 slices/hr. One trend is combining high-intensity microwaves with external heat sources to cook rapidly. Single-mode ovens with 915 MHz in which can pass each item through the same pattern of energy are being used. The major manufacturers of microwave processing equipment are Amana Appliances Commerical Cooking Div., The Ferrite Co., Microdry, and Cober Electronics.

A study was conducted to examine the use of neural networks in testing the quality of food products. Training and test sets were utilized to evaluate the performance of neural networks. Moreover, a validation process was carried out to analyze the competence of the trained network. Results indicated that a three-layer artificial neural network effectively supports a high-precision food quality prediction framework.

The 1998 Institute of Food Technologists Food Expo showcased a number of new laboratory equipment. These include the rapid coliform test system from Applied Research, the rapid microbial test system from Millipore Corp, the fluorometer from Vicam, the gravimetric diluter from Spiral Biotech, the Lightning System from Idexx Laboratories which uses ATP bioluminescence to detect food and microbial residue, and the visual immunoassay system from International BioProducts Inc.

Processing and packaging equipment for the food industry were among the highlights of the 1998 Institute of Food Technologists Food Expo. These include the Refractance Window drying method by M.C.D. Co, the fluidized-bed and air-impingement ovens from Wolverine, the dehydration system from Sandvik Process Systems, the thermal processing equipment from National Drying Machinery Co, and the high-pressure processing equipment from ABB Autoclave Systems Inc.

The impingement methods can be utilized in food processing and other food-related applications and they are not confined with just heating of food. The impingement process also includes directing certain amount of heat transfer to food products to stimulate freezing. Although such a process has only been applied in food processing lately, the impingement method has been effective in removing waxy grime, cleaning milk storage vats and removing soil baked onto oven.

Food and beverage processors are using various laboratory instruments to meet regulatory standards and to ensure food product safety. The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, and the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, have had a major influence on laboratory instruments and food laboratories. The use of automated sample generators has become a common procedure. The applications of gas and liquid chromatography, spectroscopy and biotechnology-based techniques in the food industry are discussed.

This paper concerns the development and implementation of a pilot Decision Support System for the bottleneck packaging facilities of a large dairy company. The planning and scheduling proble has been decomposed into two levels: a tactical and operational control level. On the tactical level feasible (daily) |master production schedule' of the orderbook is determined. A Mixed Integer Linear Programming model is the basis for making this schedule. On the operational control level two sequencing subproblems have to be solved. For the solution of these subproblems well-known heuristic have been used., The development and implementation of an interactive planning system for the packaging facilities of a dairy company are presented. The research is focused on both the tactical and the operational control level. Its major benefits is the generation of packaging line schedules with a reasonable efficiency. Moreover, the graphical presentation of the orderbook and the final schedule has proven to be very valuable.

High-pressure systems use the direct, piston-type compression method, the indirect compression method, and the corresponding expansion of the pressure medium with temperature for generating pressure. High-pressure processes such as Cold Isostatic Pressing, Warm Isostatic Pressing, and Hot Isostatic Pressing are used in food industries and in the growth of quartz crystals. The design of high pressure systems depends on industrial needs, and the food industry requires processes that are safe for workers, ensure product quality, and operate at maximum capacity.