An essential part of the FRISBEE software tool: identification and validation of models quantifying the impact of the cold chain on RTE pork products

2nd IIR International conference on Sustainability and the Cold Chain, ICCC2013, Paris, FRA, 02-/04/2013 - 04/04/2013International audienceFood business operators producing Ready-To-Eat (RTE) foodstuffs must be able to demonstrate that the products will comply to regulatory specifications in terms of food safety. At the same time, various food quality aspects are also important to ensure the economic position of the food producers. For refrigerated products, it is obvious that the actual time-temperature profiles a food product undergoes in the cold chain, is of paramount importance for guaranteeing food safety and quality. This work is part of the EU-FP-7 project FRISBEE. More specifically, the objective of this work is to develop, identify and validate kinetic models for RTE pork meat products like pasteurized ham, pâté and raw ham. Hereto, dedicated storage experiments are designed and conducted. Attributes were identified: quality indicators including texture, drip-loss, water-loss, colour and microbiological indicators including Listeria monocytogenes and lactic acid bacteria. In parallel, heat transfer models were also identified and validated allowing to link the temperature in a certain step of the cold chain with the actual temperature as experienced by the food products. The developed models are an essential part of the FRISBEE software tool: a user-friendly software application that allows to mimic the effect of realistic time-temperature profiles in the cold chain on the final product safety and quality when reaching the consumer, and that at the same time calculates the energy requirements and environmental impact of the cooling technologies being part of the simulated cold chain