Frozen vegetables quality

The successful and profitable control of frozen food quality requires workable standards of product quality and condition and suitable methods for determining the degree of product conformance with standards. The frozen fruit and vegetable industry has developed rapidly during the past 20 years and serious concentration upon the development of adequate standards and objective methods for quality measurement is necessary. Such standards and methods should be placed on a uniform basis the country over and given official and legal status. 

Canet, W., Quality and stability of frozen vegetables, in Thorne, S., (ed.). Developments in food preservation, volume 5, Elsevier, London, 1989, 1-50. 

In frozen vegetables, health quality, nutritional quality, and aspects of sensory quality like color and texture can be objectively assessed and controlled also, in frozen potato products the effects of the thermal treatments included in the process have to be assessed due to their influence on texture, color, and nutritional value. However, in the case of overall assessment of sensory quality, only the consumer can perceive and process the overall blend of sensations that denote quality and cause consumers to prefer, accept, or reject a product. 

Canet, W., Alvarez, M. D. (2006). Quality and Safety of Frozen Vegetables. In S. Da-Wen (Ed.), Handbook of Frozen Food Processing and Packaging (pp. 377 15). CRC Taylor Francis Group, Boca Raton, London, New York, Chap. 18. 

KATSABOXAKis K z (1983), The influence of the degree of blanching on the quality of frozen vegetables , in Zeuthen P, Cheftel J C, Eriksson C, Jul M, Leniger H, Linko P, Varela G, Vods G, Thermal Processing and Quality of Foods, London, Elsevier Applied Science Publ. 

Application of Enigmatic Reactions for Evaluation of Quality Changes in Frozen Vegetables... 

Much valuable research has been devoted to developing the basic principles for the production of frozen fruits and vegetables of high and uniform quality. If this knowledge could be applied to its fullest extent, there would be little need for concern over the quality of such foods. Before this can be done, those responsible for quality control must be provided with suitable standards of quality and condition, and objective methods of analysis which will clearly indicate conformance or nonconformance to the standards. Responsibility for this resides with the research food technologist or chemist. It constitutes a rich field for profitable and practical research. 

Food products may include frozen produce, canned produce, pasta, sauces in jars, prepared meals or pizzas. It is important to work closely with the manufacturer, in working out the best types of ingredients to use, depending on the manufacturing facilities available. For example, frozen fruit and vegetable processors require a specific size and quality, pasta and bread manufacturers will have their specific requirement of the variety and grade of wheat. They require consistent quality and volume so as to be able to produce a consistent end product. As with restaurants, it is important to build a good relationship with your processor and to keep the manufacturer informed of any potential problems. This allows them to take other action to ensure their production does not suffer. 

Looking back also over the historical development of quality requirements for processed foods, freezing when properly carried out is undoubtedly the most satisfactory method for the longterm preservation of vegetable produce. The low temperatures commonly prescribed for frozen foods (—18°C) can maintain initial quality and nutritional value practically unchanged, so that frozen and fresh vegetable products differ only in texture (Canet, 1989), which is however a particularly important quality attribute in potato products. 

For more detailed discussion of potato product quality assessment and assurance, the book Total Quality Assurance for the Food Industries (Gould, 2001) is essential reading, and for frozen French fried potatoes we especially recommend Hui s chapter of the Handbook of Vegetable Preservation and Processing (Hui, 2004). 

Downey, G. (2002). Quality changes in frozen and thawed, cooked pureed vegetables containing hydrocolloids, gums and dairy powders. Int. J. Food Sci. TechnoL, 37, 869-877. 

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