Food Processing

Can be defined as "the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food for consumption by humans or animals".

Common food processing techniques include :

Removal of unwanted outer layers, such as potato peeling or the skinning of peaches

  • Brine mixing & storage equipment
  • Chopping or slicing e.g. diced carrots.
  • Mincing and macerating
  • Liquefaction, such as to produce fruit juice
  • Fermentation e.g. in beer breweries
  • Emulsification
  • Cooking, such as boiling, broiling, frying, steaming or grilling
  • Deep frying
  • Baking
  • Mixing
  • Addition of gas such as air entrainment for bread or gasification of soft drinks
  • Proofing
  • Spray drying
  • Pasteurisation
When designing processes for the food industry the following performance parameters may be taken into account:
  • Hygiene, e.g. measured by number of micro-organisms per ml of finished product
  • Energy consumption, measured e.g. by "ton of steam per ton of sugar produced"
  • Minimization of waste, measured e.g. by "percentage of peeling loss during the peeling of potatoes'
  • Labour used, measured e.g. by "number of working hours per ton of finished product"
  • Minimisation of cleaning stops measured e.g. by "number of hours between cleaning stops"