Sterilization of foodstuffs using radio frequency heating

A study was conducted with a pilot-scale sterilization system based on 27-MHz radio frequency (RF) energy to investigate the effectiveness in shortening process time and in improving quality for foods sealed in 6-pound military-ration polymeric trays. Chemical marker M-1 was used to evaluate heating uniformity in 20% whey protein gels as a model food, and macaroni and cheese was processed to assess the influence of RF process on product quality. With the RF system, a lethality (F-0 = 10 min) was achieved in both model food and macaroni and cheese within 30 min with relative uniform heating, compared to a 90 min conventional retort process that delivered a similar lethality.