Preservation of muscle food with dielectric heat and modified atmospheres

The prepared meal consumption in Europe and America is expected to double in ten years and strong opportunities are predicted in the crossover trend between health and convenience. For many products this can be met by maintaining the nutritional value thr ough minimal processing. Minimally processed, vacuum or modified atmosphere packaged food products are known to be of very high quality and increasingly used in gastronomy and food service. The convenience aspect they offer has also led to increasing dema nd by quality conscious consumers in retail markets, but they have a limited shelf life and require chilled distribution. Novel industrial heating technologies for ready meal products, like dielectric heating, wiith dramatically increased heating rates an d potential for reduced thermal loads, are expected to deliver products with improved nutritional quality and yield, as well as production efficiency. Whereas the technologies suffer from poor heat distribution, new tools like increasingly powerful modell ing software and validation principles open for improvements that should make industrial implementation feasible during the project period. Model products of fish and meat will be used to design products, packaging and processes suitable for industrial pr oduction. Together with validation of quality aspects and microbial safety, this will form a sold base for industrial applications. Due to limited shelf life and demands for high quality chilled distribution, minimally processed convenience food is one s egment where production close to the consumer markets is vital. Thus this is an area where the Norwegian food industry can play a major role in the future, regardless of ever increasing focus on production cost and competition from cheap labour.