Thermal process validation
To discuss your needs
Our experienced thermal processing team at Campden BRI has working knowledge of a wide range of processes and products and can use a range of equipment to solve your validation needs.
By doing this complex and time consuming work for you, we can save you time and money while ensuring you remain fully compliant. Interested? Get in touch with our friendly team who can provide a quote or help you draw up a brief.
Our thermal processing team at Campden BRI offer a number of services to help you with your thermal processing needs, including:
Temperature distribution or heat distribution testing
Temperature mapping or heat-transfer mapping of processing equipment is required for all in-pack thermal processing systems (e.g. retorts, tunnel pasteurisers, steam ovens). This is vital to monitor performance of the equipment and to locate the ‘cold spot’ in the system. It must be performed before the thermal process is validated using one or more of the accepted techniques.
At Campden BRI we offer both types of distribution testing:
View heat distribution testing
Heat penetration
Heat penetration refers to the validation testing undertaken on a specific product. In short, product temperature profiles are measured at worst-case heating conditions samples during a scheduled thermal process.
These systematic tests are required to provide evidence of safe thermal processing whenever the thermal process is a ‘kill step’, i.e. a Critical Control Point in a HACCP plan for cooking, pasteurisation and sterilisation processes.
The heat penetration protocols can also be used to optimise a thermal process, where the recommendation is a gain in efficiency through reduction in process time or temperature. Specialising in this food-safety critical work, our experts can help you with heat penetration.
Time-temperature integrators (TTIs)
Time-temperature integrators (TTIs) can be used as an alternative method to temperature measurement for thermal process validation. TTIs use amylase enzymes to estimate process values from the initial and final enzyme activities. This is an invaluable technique for products and processes where it is not possible practically to obtain accurate temperature data.
View time-temperature integrators
Chilling and freezing
We can use our temperature measurement equipment to validate the effectiveness of chilling and freezing operations (e.g. cook-chill or cook-freeze processes). Often this can be done as part of the same cook validation project, using similar ‘worst-case’ heat penetration principles for cooking, pasteurisation or sterilisation.
Hot fill validation
For acid or acidified foods, hot-filling is a useful manufacturing procedure to decontaminate packaging, using the hot product to pasteurise the inner pack surface. This is an important operation with regards to food safety and spoilage that is often monitored and validated as a Critical Control Point. Campden BRI can use our combination of temperature measurement and enzymic techniques to provide robust validation of the hot fill process to ensure packaging is safely heat treated (e.g. jars or pouches). Find out more.
Pack deflection testing
At Campden BRI, our team can use specialist equipment to measure the deflection of the top pack surface during retort processing. This is important for flexible packages to minimise the stress on pack seals and reduce the risk of pack failures. Correct overpressure profiles can be determined so the retort has a programmed pressure profile optimal for your product.
Key services
Heat process validation
Many factors affect the amount of heat delivered, the product it contains, and the degree of mixing during the process.
Food product development
Developing new food and drink products is a complex process, we can help across the full range of food types.
Food cooking or reheating instructions
Knowledge and expertise for microwave and conventionally heated products.
New technologies services and information
Exploring new and emerging process technologies for industry use.
Thermal processing training courses
Explore our Thermal processing related courses including; Thermal processing and validation and Thermal processing - continuous flow, live online tutor-led course
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Where we refer to UKAS Accreditation
The Campden BRI group companies listed below are both accredited in accordance with the recognised International Standard ISO17025:2017 by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). The accreditation demonstrates technical competence for a defined scope of methods, specific to each site, as detailed in the schedules of accreditation bearing the testing laboratory number. The schedules may be revised from time to time and reissued by UKAS. The most recent issue of the schedules are available from the UKAS website www.ukas.com
Campden BRI (Chipping Campden) Limited is a UKAS accredited testing laboratory No. 1079 Campden BRI (Nutfield) is a UKAS accredited testing laboratory No. 1207