Manufacturing and Production

Thermal Processing, Sterilisation and Canning

Thermal processing is the one food operation where an error can be fatal rather than merely costly, and the process that delivers safety is a calculation before it is an operation. This course treats it that way. Delegates work through microbial death kinetics, decimal reduction time and the z value, then through the difference between pasteurisation and commercial sterility. Product classification by acidity is covered, since it decides which organism the process must destroy. Heat penetration testing is addressed practically, including thermocouple placement and identifying the slowest heating point. Process calculation and establishing a scheduled process follow. Retort operation is covered: come up time, venting, overpressure and cooling water chlorination. Process deviations and the decision to reprocess, destroy or evaluate are addressed. Container integrity and seam inspection follow. The course closes on records, on the process authority's role and on regulatory expectations.