Introduction
There has been a tremendous growth, in
recent years, in the use of ‘sous vide’
processing (vacuum cooking) technology
to extend the shelf life and keeping quality
of fresh food. The growth of this technology,
and new generation of food products,
is in response to consumer needs for
ready-to-eat, microwaveable, convenience
foods with extended shelf life
and yet retaining ‘closer to fresh’ charac-
teristics. With a current market of
approximately $20 million per year, sales
of sous vide processed products in Canada
are projected to triple within the next 10
years, mainly at the expense of frozen
and canned food products (Fiset, P. pers.
commun.).
Sous vide processing consists of preparation
(if necessary), packaging in heatstable,
air-impermeable bags under
vacuum to remove all the air, sealing,
cooking (pasteurization) to a time and
temperature for a specific food, cooling,