Title :
New methods for non-destructive sterility testing of aseptically packed food products
Author :
Nihtianov, Stoyan N. ; Meijer, Gerard C M ; Kerkvliet, Harry M.M.
Author_Institution :
Electron. Res. Lab., Delft Univ. of Technol., Netherlands
Abstract :
A new method for non-destructive sterility testing of liquid foods in TBA (Tetra Brik Aseptic) packages is presented. It is based on monitoring the heat production and the volume change of the food container, when there is a bacterial growth in the contained food. For evaluation purposes a prototype has been built, that allows simultaneous monitoring of the temperature and the volume differences between two 1L TBA packages-a tested one and a reference one. An evaluation of the industrial applicability of the presented method is made in comparison with another newly introduced nondestructive sterility-testing method, based on indirect conductivity measurements of liquids in flexible food containers
Keywords :
automatic test equipment; automatic testing; computerised instrumentation; nondestructive testing; process control; thermal variables control; thermal variables measurement; 1L TBA packages; TBA; Tetra Brik Aseptic; aseptically packed food products; bacterial growth; contained food; flexible food containers; food container; heat production; indirect conductivity measurements; industrial applicability; liquid foods; monitoring; nondestructive sterility testing; simultaneous monitoring; sterility-testing; volume differences; Containers; Food industry; Microorganisms; Monitoring; Nondestructive testing; Packaging; Production; Prototypes; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors;
Conference_Titel :
Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, 1998. IMTC/98. Conference Proceedings. IEEE
Conference_Location :
St. Paul, MN
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-4797-8
DOI :
10.1109/IMTC.1998.679846
