State of the art: superchilling in the food processing industry.

Controlled partial freezing or superchilling of food products can result in significant shelf life extensions during the cold chain. Between 10 % - 20 % of the foods water content is frozen and the ice functions as a thermal inertia during storage and transportation. Superchilled product have in general an extended shelf life and the technology shows good potential for implementation in the cold chain, since the product quality is comparable with refrigerated products. Superchilling in industry can also reduce the use of freezing/thawing for production buffers and thereby reduce labor, energy costs and product weight losses. Superchilled products sustain quality parameters commonly associated with fresh/unfrozen products. However some increase in product drip loss may occur during storage. Implementation of superchilling in industrial process plants and routines require a strict temperature control in the cold chain. Understanding and quantifying thermo-physical processes at and inside the food surface are important for the optimal design of superchilling equipment and packing systems for food products.