To Heat or Not To Heat

With the advent of nonthermal processing methods, heat is now being portrayed as the root of all food processing evils. Numerous studies extol the virtues of nonthermal processing methods in retaining valuable quality attributes and bioactive components—and attribute all negatives to the role of heat. A trait of many such studies is a comparison between a mild nonthermal process and a needlessly severe thermal process, followed typically by a declaration of victory for the nonthermal process. Ar…