Method and apparatus for producing an aseptic heterogeneous food

摘要

A method and apparatus for producing a heterogeneous food in a continuous aseptic thermal process is disclosed herein. The invention involves the combining of two streams of aseptically processed components of a final heterogeneous food product such as potato soup, yogurt or the like. One of the streams is a homogeneous component of the final product and the other stream is a heterogeneous component. The invention involves asceptically processing both streams, then using the homogeneous component or carrier fluid, to partially cool the heterogeneous food product. The invention allows for the holding of the heterogeneous component for a predetermined residence time at a predetermined temperature as set by FDA regulations. The final product may be packaged on an aseptic packaging machine.