Ohmic Heating in Food Processing

This book covers all aspects of ohmic heating, its science and engineering, chemistry and physics, biochemistry and nutrition, quality and safety, development and technology, both basic and applied. It provides a general overview of ohmic processing, such as the basic concepts of electricity, the effects of electricity on foods, microorganisms, and enzymes, and a comparison of ohmic heating and other heating methods. In addition to providing the basic theory, principles and applications of ohmic heating technology, the book will provide examples of applications these technologies for different classes of food products.

Dr. Hosahalli S. Ramaswamy is a professor of food processing at McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada. He has established a very strong research program in several areas of postharvest technology and food processing. Dr. Ramaswamy is active in food process engineering research and has published more than 300 papers in refereed scientific journals, presented over 400 papers at conferences, and has been an invited keynote speaker at several international conferences. Dr. Ramaswamy has been conferred several prestigious awards including WJ Eva and President’s Awards (CIFST), John Clark Award (CSBE), Merit Pin (IFTPS), and Fellowships of CIFST and CSBE.

Dr. Michele Marcotte is currently the director of Research and Development at the Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC) located at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa. She authored and coauthored more than 60 peer-reviewed papers, 120 conference papers, and 45 research reports. Dr. Marcotte developed a unique two-step drying process for cranberries that was implemented commercially in Quebec. She has received nine significant awards/prizes.

Dr. Sudhir K. Sastry is a professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering at The Ohio State University. His research interests include Ohmic heating, aseptic, high pressure and pulsed electric field (PEF) processing, the influence of moderate electric fields on biological materials, and the safety of fresh produce. He has published over 170 papers, six patents, and a book titled Aseptic Processing of Particulate Foods. He also recently completed a project for NASA, where he and his colleagues developed new, reusable food packaging for NASA’s lunar and Mars missions.

Khalid Abdelrahim, Ph.D., is currently the thermal processing manager and process authority for Nestle USA and Nestle Canada, Glendale, California. He is responsible for the thermal process support of the Coffee Mate, NesQuik, Carnation Evaporated Milk, Libbey’s Pumpkin, and so on. He was with Campbell Soup Company during the period 2002–2011, where he was recognized with the Campbell’s CEO Award, and he developed and filed the first Ohmic heating process for Campbell Soup with the Food and Drug Administration.