Evaluation of novel food processing methods for ensuring food quality and safety in the Milk and Dairy-Beverage Industries

加拿大牛奶和乳饮料行业正在探索延长乳制品保质期的新方法，同时保持高质量。利用热能的热处理是赋予微生物生长所需的致死性的最常规方法。不幸的是，热能也与质量属性的快速劣化相关。除了热能，光和声是我们周围最重要的两种能量来源。在最近的过去，特定频率的光（紫外线区域）和声音（超声波区域）已经显示出提供杀微生物效果。然而，这些技术尚未被乳制品工业采用，原因是缺乏：a）与对乳制品的影响相关的科学数据，以及B）允许大规模加工的设备设计。** 我的研究计划的中心主题是研究过程强度和微生物的破坏率之间的关系“>中心假设是，声音和光能可以用来生产高质量的安全食品（感官，功能和营养）。我们将测试声音和光能的潜在协同作用，并将尝试通过一种为加工乳制品而设计的新设备来应用它们的最佳频率。拟议的发现补助金（DG）计划要求资金，以验证这一假设进行基础研究，旨在了解在加拿大乳制品和饮料行业的声和光技术的效用。这项工作将通过以下方式实现：1）模拟不同频率的声音的微生物损失v/s质量损失“>所提出的研究计划的新奇性在于确定延长保质期和提高乳制品产品质量的新策略。虽然我们的计划最初将研究牛奶和含乳饮料的加工，但未来几年的工作将演变为其他食品加工行业更好的加工策略。这项研究将通过为乳制品的监管批准和工艺设计提供文献，为基于声和光的技术的商业化开辟道路。此外，这个为期5年的DG计划将为加拿大食品行业提供高就业率的HQP，提高安全性和盈利能力。获得的专门知识将使生产更健康的食品，以改善所有加拿大人的福祉。

The Canadian milk and dairy-beverage industries are exploring new approaches for extending shelf-life of dairy products, while still retaining high quality. Thermal processing, utilizing heat energy, is the most conventional approach to impart required lethality to microbial growth. Unfortunately, heat energy is also associated with rapid deterioration of quality attributes. Apart from heat energy, light and sound are the two other most prominent sources of energy around us. In recent past, particular frequencies of light (ultraviolet region) and sound (ultrasonic region) have shown to offer microbicidal effects. However, these technologies have yet not been adopted by the dairy industry due to lack of: a) scientific-data related to effect on dairy products, and b) equipment-design allowing large-scale processing. ******The central theme of my research program is to study the relationship between process intensity and rate of destruction of microorganisms ">central hypothesis is that sound and light energy can be utilized to produce safe food with high quality (organoleptic, functional and nutritional). We will test the potential synergism of sound and light energies, and shall attempt to apply their optimal frequencies through a novel equipment designed for processing dairy products. The proposed Discovery Grant (DG) program requests funds to validate this hypothesis by conducting fundamental research aimed at understanding the utility of sound and light technologies in the Canadian dairy and beverage industry. This work will be realized by: 1) Modeling of microbial loss v/s quality loss for different frequencies of sound ">novelty of the proposed research program lies in identifying novel strategies for extending shelf-life and enhancing product quality of dairy products. While our program will initially look into processing milk and milk-based beverages, future work in years ahead would evolve into better processing strategies for other food processing industries. This research shall open avenues for commercialization of sound- and light-based technologies by providing literature for regulatory approval and process design for dairy products. In addition, this 5-year DG program will yield highly employable HQPs, increased safety and profitability for the Canadian food industry. Acquired knowhow will allow production of healthier foods for improving the well-being of all Canadians.