ABSTRACT
The term thermal processing has been widely used in food industry to describe the process of heating, holding, and cooling that are required to produce microbiologically safe packaged food products of acceptable quality [1]. Sterilization is a type of thermal processing designed for complete elimination of both spores and vegetable cells. Commercial sterilization does not require complete microbial elimination, but the degree of elimination has to be regulated and optimized under accepted criteria to ensure
product safety. Pasteurization eliminates only vegetable cells and thus does not provide shelf-stable food products without other preserving processes such as refrigeration.
