New shelf-life technologies and safety assessments

Modern distribution techniques demand a good shelf-life of food products. On the other hand, the safety and high quality of foods have always been of fundamental importance. New processing and packaging technologies for optimization of the quality and shelf-life of foods are being developed in many research institutes and industrial companies. Non-thermal preservation methods and electrical food processing methods are gaining popularity in food industry. Due to environmental reasons, edible and active packaging techniques have obtained increased attention in assuring the shelf-life of foods. Furthermore, biological tools for preservation purposes such as antimicrobials from microbes, agriproduce or enzymes are gaining increasing interest and practical applications are in use today. When new methods are developed and taken into the use, safety assessments, such as predictive microbiology and hazard analysis, play an important role. In the Symposium, these aspects will be presented by international speakers with high level expertise of the field. The main goal is to bring together both active researchers and industrial people and to discuss the current topic and exchange information about recent development.