Learning Zone
WHY MEASURE TEXTURE?
Every food product has texture, and texture is one of the major criteria which the consumer uses to judge quality and acceptance of foods.
When a food produces a physical sensation in the mouth—hard, soft, crisp, moist, dry—the consumer has a basis for classifying the food’s quality—fresh, stale, tender, ripe.
Texture changes with every stage of food’s development, processing and storage. That’s why it’s important to maintain consistent texture standards—or quality—from pack to pack through a standardized system of monitoring. The Texture Test System provides a quick, economical and accurate method for use in development of new products and for maintaining quality assurance standards at every point along the production line.
THE FTC TEXTURE TEST SYSTEM is a simple and objective device which measures the texture of foods in various processing or development stages, from the field or raw product, on the production line, and in the warehouse. The system records the food’s texture in numerical values which allows standardization of the processing cycle. Once a growing period, a formula, a cooking cycle or processing time has been decided upon, the Texture Test System can measure the texture and provide a corresponding numerical value. This value then serves as a quality assurance standard by which future food products can be evaluated.
A TOOL FOR FOOD PROCESSORS
Here are some of the various applications of the Food Technology Corporation Texture Test System now in use in the food processing industry. Specific examples of food measurement are available from your FTC representative.
MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS (including meat, poultry and seafood)
Evaluate the effects of breeding, nutrition, growth rate, marbling and tenderness, poultry struggling, egg shell strength vs. feed nutrition.
Evaluate the effects of scalding, mechanical picking, chilling, aging and preservation on the tenderness of various cuts and muscles.
Measure the moisture in pack, the toughness and compactness of manufactures meat products.
Establish quality grades for correlation with broker and consumer acceptance; evaluate the effects of preservation method, manufacturing procedures, storage and shelf life.
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Evaluate crop varieties, growing practices, harvesting and handling methods, effects of storage, ripening periods and process.
Establish peeling requirements, the best blanching and cooking cycles, proper equipment, the effects of chemical additives for product firming or preserving, textural variations, can-fill based on maturity.
Establish labeling and pricing levels for consumer or broker acceptance on the basis of consistent quality standards; measure product variability within a can, within a case, over a season. Measure effect of warehousing and shelf life on product integrity.
PASTAS (including rice, spaghetti and noodles)
Evaluate flour and ingredient formulations, variability of raw product to predict process settings, and formulations vs. extrusion processing.
Establish pre-cooking requirements for instant or dehydrated products.
Establish proper time and temperature for consumer cooking, effect of sauces added to pack or by consumer, textural properties and specifications to insure consumer acceptance, product integrity and shelf life.
JELLIES
Evaluate raw product quality, the effects of variety blending, ingredient addition, the gelling qualities of pectin, the integrity of gel structure.
Establish specifications for buying and selling, shelf life vs. product vs. packaging.
SNACK FOODS
Evaluate dough or paste formulations for extrusions, measurement and adjustment of solids content, textural qualities, uniformity of product properties, effectiveness of packaging material in freshness, breakage and settling.
CONFECTIONS (including candy, gum)
Evaluate raw ingredients, processing applications, ingredient variability, effect of processing operations on product uniformity.
Measure coating thickness, chewiness, elasticity, brittleness, and shelf life integrity.
Set procurement specifications for consistent quality.
BAKERY PRODUCTS
Evaluate consistency of dough for extruding roll out, floor time, rise time, the effects of additives for consistent product quality and texture.
Determine effects of freezing and packaging on shelf life.
PASTES (including tomato products, spreads, relishes, puddings, gels)
Evaluate consistency of mixtures, viscometric properties at various stages of processing and viscometric measurements at high solids level to determine pectin retention, reconstitution standards, procurement specifications, finished product consistency.
PET FOODS
Evaluate specifications for raw products, processing formations, the effects of raw product variability and blending.
Establish formulation specifications for spoonability of product, shelf life and packaging requirements.
MISCELLANEOUS USE
Milling properties of spices, germination stage of malting grains, specifications of shortening.