The course was held on April 4-5, 2005, at the International House

International House http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/go/ihousedv/  University of California – Davis, Davis, California 95616.   Dr. Diane Barrett, Department of Food Science and Technology, UC Davis, was the course coordinator.

The course was successful, attracting 58 attendees.  The program and some photographs are presented below.

Intended Audience and Course Description

            This course was designed for BS level food scientists, engineers, biochemists and microbiologists currently working in the food industry, and for representatives from management considering an alternative to traditional thermal processing technologies.  In addition, the course was expected to be of interest to government officials, process authorities and researchers who are trying to evaluate the benefits of these new technologies, and how the determination of lethality may be achieved. 

This course began with a review of consumer demands, and the reasons behind the search for advanced process technologies which may result in more fresh-like quality attributes in fruit, vegetable, meat, seafood and dairy products.  Basic principles of thermal and nonthermal processing were reviewed, as well as the microbiological and quality aspects of various processes.  Principles, advantages and disadvantages and cost of specific thermal and nonthermal processes were described in detail by experts in the field.  Legal and regulatory requirements will be discussed, and the steps toward making a decision to initiate an advanced process will be outlined.

Support provided by the USDA National Integrated Food Safety Initiative Grant No. 2003-51110-02093,  titled: Safety of foods processed using four alternative processing technologies,  is gratefully acknowledged.

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Course Agenda:

Monday, April 4, 2005

8:30-8:45        Introduction, Welcome, Diane Barrett,  UCD

8:45-9:45        Consumer Demands for Food Quality, Convenience, Cost,

                      Christine Bruhn UCD

9:45-10:00       Coffee Break

10:00-11:00     Overview of Thermal and Nonthermal Processing
   for Food Preservation,

                       Dennis Heldman, Heldman Associates

11:00-12:00     Quality Aspects of Thermal and Nonthermal Processes

                       Diane Barrett, UCD

12:00-1:00        Lunch

1:00-2:00         Thermal Processing, Dilip Chandarana, CRM

2:00-3:00          Ohmic Processing, Sudhir Sastry, OSU

3:00-3:15          Break

3:15-4:15          Microwave and High Frequency Processing, Juming Tang, WSU

4:15-5:00          Pulsed UV Processing, Manuel Lagunas-Solar, UCD

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

8:30-9:30          High Pressure Processing, V.M. Balasubramaniam, OSU

9:30-10:30        Choosing Successful Products for High Pressure Processing    

                        Marcia Walker, Avomex

10:30-11:15       Avocado tasting/Break, Marcia Walker & Diane Barrett

11:15-12:00       Pulsed Electric Field Processing, Howard Zhang, USDA

12:00-1:00         Lunch

1:00-2:00           Microbiological Aspects of Thermal and Nonthermal Processes

                        Ahmed Yousef, OSU

2:00-3:00           Legal and Regulatory Requirements for Filing Processes

                        John Larkin, FDA

3:00-3:15           Break

3:15-4:00           Thermal vs. Nonthermal Preservation:  How to Decide?

                         Patrick Dunne, US Natick Army Soldier Ctr.

4:00                  Adjourn

Meeting Attendees

Dr. John Larkin of the FDA, making his presentation.