A lower carbohydrate soup product is produced by preparing a mixture of soup ingredients, native xanthan gum, particulate xanthan gum and water to form a suspension in a high-speed mixer at a high sheer rate. The native xanthan gum and particulate xanthan gum cooperate to provide a viscosity necessary for successfully retorting a lower carbohydrate soup. The suspension is heated with steam injection until a viscosity sufficient to maintain the soup ingredients and particulate xanthan gum in a suspension. The suspension is then injected into a retort container and undergoes a retort process, thereby producing the lower carbohydrate soup product.

An opening/closing module according to the present invention comprises a middle door part having a curved shape that is located at an entrance of a sterilization module to separate, from the outside, the sterilization module that provides a sterilization space for accommodating a hand truck, and selectively opens/closes the entrance of the sterilization module by including a sliding part.

An automated, unmanned continuous system (200) for packaging flowable food products at elevated temperatures and pressures includes an upstream thermal processing station (202) to heat the food products and direct the heated food products to a pressurized unmanned filling station (204), whereat containers (242) are filled with the heated food products within a pressurized housing (232), and then transported to a pressurized and unmanned sealing station (206) where the containers are sealed with a lid or cover (283) within a pressurized housing (282). Thereafter, the filled and sealed containers (242) are routed from the pressurized housing (282) through a pressurized transfer tube or passageway (208) for further processing at a downstream thermal processing station (210).

An apparatus for thermally processing food products in sealed packages comprises heating/cooling chambers with an endless conveyor guided through them with product carriers connected thereto. Each product carrier 10 comprises insertion spaces 17 for packages 27 to be placed in. A side wall 11 of the carrier 10 comprises slits 20 which open out towards insertion openings of the respective insertion spaces 17. Operating members are provided which comprise load bearing organs 32 with operable holding means 33 for picking up and carrying packages 27. The load bearing organs 32 are movable in an insertion direction x while projecting through the slits 20 during placing of packages 27 into the insertion spaces 17.

Induction heating systems for metal food cans configured to deliver sufficient heat into the can to sterilize the food within the can are provided. The heating system includes an induction coil and a control system. The control system is configured to monitor and control heating of sealed food cans during induction heating and to control and/or confirm various aspects of can heating during induction heating.

A method of producing retort-sterilized cooked rice including: a heating water-absorption step A for heating uncooked rice having a hardness ratio lower than 1 (one) for causing water to be absorbed therein such that resultant water-absorbed rice grains weigh from 2.0 to 2.6 times as much as the uncooked rice grains; a filling step B for filling the heated, water-absorbed rice grains in a packing container; a sealing step D for sealing the filled packing container; and a retort-sterilization step E for sterilizing the sealed packing container by heating and pressurizing. Also, retort-sterilized container-packed cooked rice comprises rice prepared by retort-sterilizing Indica rice with charging of inert gas in a headspace of the packing container such that the concentration of oxygen gas therein may range 1% or more and less than 2%.

A pasteurizing plant includes at least two pasteurizing lines. A heating device of a heat pump is used to heat a heating liquid, and a cooling device of the heat pump is used to cool a cooling liquid. Based on heating and/or cooling demand in the pasteurizing lines, the heated heating liquid and/or the cooled cooling liquid each are used to heat respectively cool process liquid of the pasteurizing lines. A method operates the pasteurizing plant.

The present disclosure provides methods for manufacturing a shelf-stable food product. In a general embodiment, the methods include acoustically mixing the food product with an acoustic mixing device during thermal processing of the food product. The methods of the present disclosure provide several advantages including, but not limited to, rapid achievement of a uniform temperature distribution during thermal processing, retention of nutrient content and organoleptic properties of the food product, and retention of particle integrity in the food product during and after mixing.

The present disclosure provides a cart treatment module including a treatment body; a fixing means; and a rotation means.