Preface

Over the past years, I have been fortunate to have had diverse experiences in delivering food processing workshops and other training to small-scale food processors and entrepreneurs in a variety of countries. During this time, it became apparent that there was a lack of resources to explain the basic concepts of food processing to this prominent group within the international food processing community. Literature sources available through the Internet often tend to be highly academic and mathematical in nature, and usually do not address the everyday problems facing those in a production environment. It was in response to this information gap that “Concepts of Small-scale Food Processing” came into being.

The chapters in this book are designed to guide the reader from the fundamental reasons for food processing through to a more focussed examination of specific topics of interest. Thermal processing and drying are two of the main food processing techniques. As a result, these topics are given the most attention. After conducting a number of dehydration and drying workshops in the Caribbean, the need for material on drying methods with reduced energy inputs took on a new level of significance. For this reason, a chapter dedicated to solar and open-air drying has been included.

For some readers, the chapters on specialized calculations associated with thermal processing and the development of mathematical models in food drying may be somewhat intimidating. These chapters are not critical to understanding the concepts of food processing, but they do provide greater detail for those who wish to delve more deeply into the topics concerned. From my perspective, the chapter on Statistical Processing Control warrants special attention. For many small-scale processors, this may provide some insight into how to assess the conformance of their finished product to various specifications – in particular packaged product weights or volumes. Armed with a computer spreadsheet program and some basic statistical knowledge, it is possible to gain awareness of the degree of processing variability, and possibly take corrective action to resolve these situations.

One of the first questions that we asked when putting this material together was, “What defines a small-scale food process?” The answer is not really all that simple. Basically, our target audience ranges from those who may be preserving harvests from their home gardens for personal use to those who are running commercial food processing businesses from their homes or dedicated facilities. Essentially, small-scale operations tend to be conducted on a limited-sized batch basis whereas large-scale processing is conducted on a continuous, often around-the-clock, timeframe. There is really no hard-and-fast definition to differentiate them. However, there should not be an issue in this regard since much of the included material is applicable to operations on any scale.

In addition to being directed to small-scale food processors and entrepreneurs, this book may be appropriate for those studying food processing at the community college level. Non-Food Science majors who require information on the fundamentals of food processing may find the material presented here appropriate for their needs as well.

I would like to thank the Royal Society of Chemistry for providing the opportunity to make this book a reality. Time has passed so quickly since Nicki Dennis (Book Commissioning Editor, Food Science and Chemistry) first approached me about producing a book of this nature. I would also like to thank Katie Morrey (Editorial Assistant) and Clarissa Soares (Production Controller) for their contributions that have brought this body of work together. There are likewise many others at the Royal Society of Chemistry whose contributions are greatly appreciated.

Of course, none of this can happen without the support of family and I would like to acknowledge them here. My wife, Jane, has always been incredibly supportive, even as I built dryers in the garage and did open-air and solar drying experiments in our backyard. Thank you to the other members of our family: our son, Darren and his wife Karren; our son Geoffrey and his wife Maren; and our daughters, Andrea and Destiny. Being a genealogy aficionado, I want to mention the life-long support of my father, Tom and my late mother, Audrey. Finally, we must not forget our five grandchildren: Ethan, Mataya, Keeleigh, Arison, and Elliott. Of all things in this world, there is none as important as family.

To those of you reading this book, I hope you find it useful and informative regardless of what you are processing, and on what scale you are doing it. Happy processing!

Donald G. Mercer

Guelph, Ontario, Canada.