Organisations looking to develop their business operations through the current volatile economic climates need to establish clear objectives as to how the various elements of the business need to perform to ensure continuing growth and viability. In order to achieve these objectives it is further imperative to have mechanisms in place to monitor performance and also to provide a process by which change can be implemented in those areas of activity which need strengthening. Total Quality

The primary concern of chilled food manufacturers is to produce a product that is both wholesome, i.e. it has all the fresh, quality attributes associated with a chilled food, and safe, i.e. free from pathogenic microorganisms and chemical and foreign body contamination. This is particularly important in this product ector as, due to the nature and method of production, many chilled foods are classified as high-risk products

Many different ingredients and raw materials are processed to make chilled foods. At harvest or slaughter these materials may have a wide range of microbes in or on them. Some of them carry the micro-organisms that cause their eventual spoilage(e.g. bacilli or Lactic acid bacteria) whilst others pick them up during harvesting or processing

As the chilled foods market has expanded and become more competitive, so have the demands for diversity, quality and longer shelf-life. Meeting these demands in a responsible, safe and cost-effective manner requires the application of an understanding of the factors that affect product safety and quality. Many problems can be avoided by applying this knowledge to a formalised HACCP approach to identify critical control points relating to quality

Chilled foods represent a large and rapidly developing market with an extremely wide range of food types. Traditionally these were simple meat, poultry, fish and dairy products but recent trends have moved towards a greater variety and more complex products (Stringer and Dennis 2000). As more innovative products are produced, the variety of ingredients have also increased. Many of these ingredients are sourced around the world and relatively little may be known about their

The practice of measuring and keeping records of temperatures is not new to the food industry, and has been undertaken by certain sectors, e.g. canning, for many years. However, its widespread application in the refrigerated food sector, other han fitting temperature measurement equipment to chill stores, is relatively recent. The prime factor focusing attention on temperature monitoring was the concern about food poisoning and the introduction of new legislation covering

Much poultry and red meat is sold in a chilled unprocessed state. However, an ncreasing proportion is used as a basic raw material for chilled meat products and ready meals. A growing trend is the development of added-value convenience meals, especially ethnic products, many of which are pre-or part-cooked and necessitate chilled storage. Many of these products contain meat as a key ingredient. This meat for further processing can be supplie

Raw material selection- fruits and Ⅴ egetables L. Bedford, Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association 1.1 Introduction Fresh fruits and vegetables are utilised in a wide range of chilled products. They may be sold whole, or peeled (for example peeled potatoes and onions)or further prepared(e.g. carrot batons). After washing or further preparation they form ingredients for mixes such as mixed fruit or salad packs or for further

The only difference between a fat and an edible oil is that at ambient temperature a fat is semi-solid, and appears more or less firm to the touch, and an oil is liquid. They are both of similar general chemical composition. Edible oils are completely different in chemical form to mineral oils that are used as fuels or for lubrication. Most mineral oils are hazardous to human health and should not be even a small

4.1 Introduction White wheat flour is the largest ingredient in nearly all biscuits. It is made from wheat by removing the brown surface coating and the embryo(the bran and the germ) and reducing the particle size to a fine powder. Modern milling methods are very complex involving many stages principally because it is difficult to separate the bran from the white central part (known as the endosperm)of the wheat