CANNING (THERMAL PROCESSING OR THERMAL

PRESERVATION)

 Commercial canning is a method of food preservation in which, carefully selected

and prepared foods contained in a permanently sealed containers are subjected to
heat for a definite period of time and then cooled.
 In most canning process, the effect of heating on spoilage organisms is to destroy
them and the permanent sealing of the container preventing the re-infection of the
food by further organisms.
 Canning has been in vogue for about 200 years now, since the French Biochemist,
Nicholas Appert, in 1809 discovered the method of hermetically (without any hole)
sealing glass jars filled with various foods, after heating it in a water bath, to
overcome the problem of preservation of meat in the armed forces,.
 In 1810, an English man, Peter Durrand, conceived and patented the idea of using
tin cans instead of glass containers.
 William Underwood followed it in 1817.
 Boston and Thomas Kensette began using tins as cans in 1819 in New York.
 Further, many more advances have been made in canning.

Recent developments in canning include

 Aseptic Canning
 Recently a new method of canning, known as aseptic canning, has been
developed, which involves the use of high temperature for shorter duration.
 The food is sterilized at 120°C for 6 sec to 6 min, depending on the food,
before it enters a sterilized can, which is then closed with a sterilized lid.
 This method is said to improve the flavour and the vitamin content.
 Aluminium Cans
 More recently aluminium or coated aluminium has been used in the
fabrication of cans.
 While it has the advantage of lightness and freedom from sulphiding and
rust, it buckles fairly easily.
Efforts are being made to produce an alloy strong enough to withstand the stresses of
processing, packaging and transport.

Retort Processing

 Flexible pouches made from laminates of thermoplastic and aluminium foil are
widely used in Japan and are now being adopted in Europe and the United States.
 They will not, however, withstand the high internal pressure developed during
processing and must therefore be sterilized in media (water or steam and air)
capable of providing an external pressure sufficient to balance the internal one.
Developments in modes of sterilisation

 For the thermal processing of the open or sanitary can, flame sterilization, e.g. the
Tarax flame sterilizer developed in Australia, combined with rotation of the can, is
now used for certain products. This system has the advantage of being relatively
cheap and is capable of providing very efficient heat transfer in those products with
some liquid.
 Future forms of thermal processing may involve the use of microwave energy,
hydrostatic sterilizers using high-efficiency steam and fluidized-bed systems.
Thermal Destruction of Micr0-organisms
 The effect of canning is destruction of spoilage organisms and both temperature
employed and length of heating time determine the efficacy of the thermal process
employed in killing spoilage organisms.
 When bacteria in a suspension are exposed to heat, the number of remaining alive
follows a logarithmic course (survivor or thermal death rate curve) against the
length of heating time at a constant temperature. Some of the important concepts in
thermal destruction of micro-organisms is listed below.
 The decimal reduction time (D value) is the time taken at a constant temperature to
reduce the surviving bacteria in a suspension to 10% of their original number (or) in
other words to destroy 90% 0f the surviving organisms.
 Total sterility is never achieved and the effect of any thermal processing is
measured against the activity of the spores of Cl. botulinum, the most heat resistant
pathogenic form known.
 In modern canning operation there must be sufficient heat process equal to 12 times
the D (decimal reduction time) of Cl. botulinum spores.
 By a factor of 1012 i.e. a heat process equal to 12 times the D (decimal reduction
time) of Cl. botulinum spores.
 Foods with a pH of less than 4.5, in which Cl. botulinum spores do not germinate,
may be subjected to milder heat treatments.
 Z value refers to the degrees Fahrenheit required for the thermal destruction curve
to traverse one log cycle. This may be used to determine equivalent thermal
processes at different temperatures.
 If, for example, 3.5 minutes at 140°F is considered an adequate process and z = 8,
either 0.35 minutes at 148°F or 35 minutes or 35 minutes at 132°F would be
considered as an equivalent process.
 F value refers to the equivalent time, in minutes, at 250°F of all heat considered
with respect to its capacity to destroy spores or vegetative cells of a particular
organism.

ANS - TYPES OF CANS

 As a food containers, the metal can possesses certain virtues possessed by no other
type of containers for heat processed foods, viz.,
 It has a high conductivity, which is of importance during processing.
 It cannot be easily broken.
 Being opaque, any possible deleterious effects of light on the foodstuffs are
avoided.
 Although, the term ‘can’ is applied to modern containers, this is somewhat of a
misnomer, as they are constructed of mild steel with a thin coating of pure tin.
 The actual amount of tin being only about 1.5 % of can’s weight. It is important that
the tin used should not contain more than 1% of lead.
 Coating of steel plate is necessary to prevent corrosion for steel is an unstable
compound and in some foodstuffs, such as fish or fruit. The tin plate is protected by
a fish or fruit lacquers.
 Unsightly staining of surface of certain foodstuffs known as sulphiding may also
occur and is avoided by use of a phenolic meat lacquer or a sulphur resistant
lacquer.
 An alternative method of avoiding sulphiding is now being extensively employed for
meat pack and consist of chemical treatment of the inside of the can to form an
invisible protecting film a solution used being a strong alkali bath containing
phosphate and chromates.
 The design of cans and the techniques of can manufacture are being constantly
researched on and developments are constant in this industry.
  Two of the most important advances achieved by these research activities is the
great reduction of metal in the cans and the replacement of soldering, which
involved use of lead by electrical welding.
Types of Can

 Three types of cans are mainly in vogue currently and they are the three piece food
can, two piece drawn and wall ironed can and drawn and redrawn can.
Three Piece Food Can

 Tinplated steel, coated with lacquer, so as to prevent contact between the tinplate
and the food to be canned, and dried in ovens for 15- 20 minutees is cut into strips
of specific lengths and widths as per the size of the cans desired.
 Such individual strips are then rolled into cylinders and the two edges of the
cylinder drawn with an overlap, which is electrically welded.
 At this stage the cylinders are further given a coating of lacquer on the seams and
dried in ovens
 A lip is next formed on each end of the of the cylinder.
 Seperate ends (lids and bases) are made in a different area and the rims of these
ends are curled and a sealing compund is injected into the curl.
 The base is next joined to the cylinder body, the sealing compound forming an
airtight seal.
 The cans, with the seperate lids are ready for use.
Two Piece Drawn and Wall Ironed Can

 These cans consists of two pieces of tinplate, the body and base being formed from
one piece of metal and the lid from another.
 The body and base are shaped from a thick piece of tinplate which is drawn up,
ironed and ridged for strength and then given a coat of lacquer.
Drawn and Redrawn Can

 Drawn and redrawn cans are manufactured from two pieces of tinplate , the body
being made from a disc shaped piece lacquered on both sides and drawn up to form
a shallow cup and then drawn and redrawn to form a deep cup.

OUTLINE OF CANNING OPERATION

Preparation of the raw material (meat)

 The handling of meat prior to heat treatment is very important.

 Meat should be handled hygienically and under strict temperature control so that
contamination is avoided and the multiplication of microbes is prevented.
 The long-term storage of meat intended for canning should be preserved under a
temperature of –12°C to –18°C.
 A variety of processes like grinding, trimming, cutting, washing, canning, mincing,
dicing, addition of emulsifiers, binders and other supplements should be carried
effectively and rapidly.
 Meat should be thawed in special thawing rooms or in chillers.
 The meat and its offal intended for pet food manufacture are not thawed but minced
and diced in frozen state.
 Most canned meat products are salted because it does reduces the heat resistance
of bacterial spores and thereby reduces the cooking time also.
Precooking / Blanching
  Products like meat is precooked whereas, vegetables and fruits are scalded or
blanched in hot water at a temperature of 87°C to 95°C or exposed to steam.
 Blanching is done to
 Remove the respiratory gases, which would reduce vacuum in the can.
 Inhibit the enzymatic action, which can reduce quality and nutritive value of
meat.
 Cause shrinkage of the product.
 To clean the product.
Filling of cans

 Filling of cans is the critical part of the canning operation, which can be done
mechanically or by hand, which should be done carefully.
 There are two types of can filling.
 Hand filling
 Mechanical filling (Machines)
 Hand filling is generally employed depending on the size or configuration of the
product.
 Products, which are susceptible for damage during mechanical filling, are subjected
for hand filling.
 Mechanical filling can be done by a wide variety of semi or fully automatic
mechanical fillers.
 In mechanical filling mostly comminuted products and products which have fine
particle size are filled in.
 The steps in canning operations are as following
Exhausting

 The exhaustion is done by removal of air from the can before it is sealed.
 Exhaustion is necessary because
 Can sealed without previous exhausting may show such expansion of the
contents during possessing as to force the seams and produce a ‘Leaker’
 It produces a concavity of the ends of the tins. So that, any internal pressure
may be readily detected and the can rejected.
 It lowers the amount of oxygen in the can and prevents discoloration of the
surface of the food and corrosion of the can.
 In fruits packs, it reduces the chemical action between the food products and
the container thus, largely eliminate “Hydrogen Swell”.
 Although the production of a vacuum, probably has very little effect on
microorganism. Experience has showed that, tin containing a vacuum keep
better than those from which the air has not been exhausted.
 Exhaustion of a can may be carried out in three ways, such as
 Heat exhausting
 The contents of the can are filled cold, which is then passed through
steam produce in a exhaust chamber and heated immediately before
sealing.
 The ends of the can are loosely attached to permit of the escape of the
air, sealing being completed when the can leave the exhauster.
 The effect is to release air or gas trapped in the product.
 Vacuumizing or Mechanical Exhaust
 The cold material is filled in to the can, and then closed in a vacuum-
closing machine, the can being subjected to a high vacuum during the
seaming operation.
 Steam Injection
 This method involves injecting a blast of steam into the headspace as
lid of the can is being positioned.
Sealing or seaming of the container (closure)
  The sealing of can after evacuation is achieved by curling the edge of the lid over
the can.
 The sealing material often a synthetic rubber compound must retain its resilience
over a temperature range from below room temperature to above 130°C.
 Sealing is done by a double seamer and the sealing operation takes about one
second.
 There are two seaming operations.
 First is seam operation and the other is the hermetic seal operation.
Thermal Processing / Sterilization

 After exhausting and closing the cans must be heated for an accurately
predetermined time and temperature in an atmosphere of saturated steam in heated
water or occasionally in an air steam mixture.
 Food to be canned is threatened on one hand by spoilage due to bacteria and on the
other by damage of overheating.
 The canner, therefore, choose a middle course, the minimum heat employed in
processing being controlled by the nature of food in the cam and types and number
of bacteria likely to be present.
 During processing, heat penetrates to the center of the can by conduction and by
convection currents.
 In the solid meat pack the diffusion of heat is brought about by conduction and the
process is therefore slow.
 Solid loosely packed in a liquid will, therefore, heat more rapidly due to convection
current than those, which are tightly packed.
 pH or the acidity of the food contents also has an important bearing on the
temperature required for processing.
 Acid foods, which include the common fruits, are easily processed.
 The temperature must be sufficient to kill yeast, moulds and certain bacteria
capable of growing in the acid medium.
 In non-acid foods, such as meat, the destruction of the bacterial spores is slow and
these foods require temperature of 115°C with sufficient time (45 minutes).
 A serious problem associated with conduction heating is time. When small volume of
product at the can center is sterilized, the peripheral portions are severely over
cooked.
 To avoid this agitation during cooking and the presence of headspace not only
minimizes the uneven treatment but effectively the temperature and time required
for safe processing.
 Rotational end-over-end or axial movement of the retorts (cookers) achieves the
agitation.
 Canning in smaller retorts is called batch method.
 The sealed cans usually not more than a few thousand per batch are manually
loaded into the retort on trays or in metal baskets.
 The cooking takes place under steam pressure.
Cooling

 Prompt cooling after processing is important and it checks the action of heat on the
food and prevents any change in texture and colour.
 In addition, a marked internal pressure exists in the can when it is removed from
steam pressure retort and rapid reduction of this internal pressure is ensued by
prompt cooling of the cans.
 Cooling is done either by placing the can under showers (Spray) of cold water or by
immersing then in a cold-water tank.
 Cooling can also be done by pressure cooling in the retort when the processing is
completed.
 The cans should be cooled to an average temperature of 37°C.
  At all times cooling water should be potable and bacteriologically clean.
Can washing

 Can which has been just cooled are dirty and greasy on the outside and are
therefore passed through a detergent bath to facilitate subsequent handling,
lacquering and labeling.
 This bath is usually composed of soap or sulphonated fatty alcohol.
Outside lacquering, labelling and storage

 Commercial lacquer or enamel is a coloured varnish containing vegetable resins or

synthetic resins.
 Tins after removal from the detergent bath are washed and lacquer may be applied
to the outside of the tin to prevent external corrosion, particularly when the cans
are estimated for moisture.

SPOILAGES OF CANNED FOODS - DISTORTION OF CANS

 Canned goods are classified as spoiled when the food has undergone a deleterious
change or when the condition of the container renders such change possible.
 Spoilage may be due to variety of causes, and spoiled cans may usually show
obvious of abnormalities such as distortion, blowing, concave ends or slightly
constricted sides; or they may present a perfectly normal external appearance.
 The various ditortions commonly encountered are:
Swell or blower

 A can with it ends bulged by positive internal pressure due to gas generated by
microbial or chemical activity is termed as swell or blower.
Flipper

 A flipper is a can of normal appearance in which one end flips out when the can is
struck against a solid object but the end snaps back to the normal when very slight
pressure is applied.
Springer

 A springer is the term used to describe a can in which one end is bulged but can be
forced back into normal position, where upon the opposite end bulges.
Leaker

 A leaker is a can containing a perforation from any cause whereby atmospheric air
may enter the can or its contents escape.
 May be detected by disappearance of vacuum from the sides and ends of the cans
and the bubbles that appear from the can when held under water and squeezed.
 Another test for leakage is to heat the can until the temperature is 38°C in the
interior and allowing it to cool slowly. When if a leak is present, there will be no
concavity of the sides or ends.
 The commonest leaking is at the seams, and may sometimes be detected by the
appearance of liquid or stain on the can surface.
 Mould formation on the surface of canned meat is also indicative of leakage through
the seams but cannot be detected until the can is opened.
 The detection of leakers by striking the suspect tin with a mallet has little value in
industrial practice.
Over filled can

 An overfilled can is one in which the ends are convex due to overfilling.
  Though an overfilled can, cannot properly be regarded as a spoiled can, it must be
differentiated from a blower, and it emits a dull sound when struck, where as a
blown tin emits a resonant sound.
Slack caps

 The term slack cap is used in the trade to denote a can, which has a movement of
one of the ends similar to a can in the early stages of blowing, and the great
majority of can classed as slack caps are blown and should be treated as such.
 Blower and slack caps should be condemned.

BACTERIA IN CANNED FOODS

 It was at one time thought that, the keeping quality of canned foods
depend upon the complete exhaustion of air.
 Later, it was suggested that, heating destroy all microorganisms,
while the sealing of the can prevented entry of others and the
decomposition when it occurred was due to faulty sterilization or to
entry of bacteria to the fault in the cans.
 Neither of these views expresses the whole truth because, living
bacteria can after found in the sound and wholesome food.
 Bacteriological methods show that many canned meat or meat
products contain living organisms even after modern processing
methods.
 The mere presence of living organisms is of little or no significance
in assessing the soundness of canned goods.
 The organism responsible for spoilage in canned foods may be
spore-forming organisms and therefore, resistant to commercial
processing, or they may be a non-sporing organism, which gains
access to the cans by leakages after processing.
 Presence of yeasts, moulds or non-sporing bacteria in canned meat
foods is evidence of the leakage after after csealing lean and can
make the food unsound.
 Canned goods which, on opening show such evidence should be
condemned.
Last modified: Wednesday, 20 April 2011, 8:36 AM