The approach to teaching the concepts of food processing to the undergrad uate food science major has evolved over the past 40 years. In most under graduate food science curricula, food processing has been taught on a commodity basis. In many programs, several courses dealt with processing with emphasis on a different commodity, such as fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat products, and eggs. In most situations, the emphasis was on the unique characteristics of the commodity and very little empha sis on the common elements associated with processing of the different commodities. Quite...

The Second Edition of Food Process Engineering by Dr. Dennis Heldman, my former student, and co-author Paul Singh, his former student, attests to the importance of the previous edition. In the Foreword to the First Edition, I noted the need for people in all facets of the food processing industry to consider those variables of design of particular importance in engineering for the food processing field. In addition to recognizing the many variables involved in the biological food product being handled from production to consumption, the engi- neer must oftentimes adapt equations developed for...