The key requirements for chilled food products are good quality and microbiological safety at the point of consumption. The first edition of Chilled foods quickly established itself as the standard work on these issues. This major new edition strengthens that reputation, with extensively revised and expanded coverage (including more than ten new chapters) and significant participation from those in the chilled food industry to increase the publication's relevance to practitioners.
The introduction discusses key trends and influences in the chilled foods market. Part one explores the critical importance of raw material selection and packaging materials in final product quality, with expanded coverage of particular ingredients such as fish, cheese and poultry and a new contribution on chilled food packaging materials and technologies. Part two focuses on technologies and processes in the supply chain, with entirely new chapters on refrigeration, storage and transport and non-microbial hazards such as allergens, among others. Alongside are updated chapters on the important topics of hygienic design, cleaning and disinfection and temperature monitoring and measurement. Part three covers microbiological hazards, with new chapters on predictive microbiology and conventional and rapid analytical microbiology. The final part contains three new chapters devoted to essential issues in safety and quality management, such as shelf-life, quality and consumer acceptability. A wholly updated chapter on legislation and criteria completes the volume.