Innovative Food
Processing Technologies

Traditionally, the overall aim of food processing has been to provide food that is safe
while maintaining quality during its shelf-life. More recently, however, this objective
has evolved. Consumers are now demanding “next-generation” processed foods from
fresh ingredients, with high nutritional balance, health-promoting components, and
assured food safety. Food quality attributes, such as flavor, aroma, texture, appearance,
and nutritional content are strongly dependent on the way the food is processed. The
food industry is becoming increasingly competitive and dynamic, and strives to
develop high-quality, freshly prepared food products. In trying to achieve this objective, food manufacturers are today presented with a growing array of new technologies
that have the potential to improve, or replace, conventional processing technologies to
deliver higher-quality and better consumer-targeted food products, which meet many,
if not all, of the demands of the modern consumer. These new, or innovative, technologies are in various stages of development, including some still at the R&D stage, and
others that have been commercialized as alternatives to conventional processing
technologies.