ABSTRACT
In general, heat sterilized soups and sauces are classified as soup concentrates, ready to serve soups, and main course soups (stews). Preserving by heat is the most important single process in the production of soups and sauces. Thermic treatment of food has the objective to keep the product serviceable for a long period of time without cooling at normal climatic conditions. In the field of ultra high temperature (UHT) products there have been some new, dramatic developments in recent years. There are different UHT processes: direct processes, indirect processes, and special processes. For developing and producing UHT heated and aseptically packed ready to serve soups and sauces the same ingredients can be used “at first sight” as those used for traditional products. The minimum shelf-life of heat sterilized products is influenced and limited by physical/chemical and also by so-called “abiotic processes”. These changes have a more or less negative influence on the sensory quality of the products.
