ABSTRACT
Being complex and iterative, the food product development process has proved difficult to define and model. It begins with a concept and ends with either the entry of the product in the market or the maintenance of the product in the marketplace, depending on whose model is studied. The total milestone-driven food-product development process under investigation is illustrated in this chapter. It can be envisioned as a skier racing in a three-phase giant slalom, the phases defined as product definition, product implementation, and product introduction. Implicit in the scale-up and trial production of the new food product is a total quality program that continuously identifies, analyses, and controls risk. The risk controlling process begins with the identification of all potential hazards and proceeds through the screening, analysis ranking, quantification and evaluation stages, and ultimately to the controlling of the risks.
