Technological Developments and the Need for Technical Competencies in Food

Abstract

The Growing scale of institutional and commercial food services require the application of the industrial cuisine principles. The fundamentals of food service technology (food safety, sensory and nutritional changes, equipment engineering and packaging) underpin food service systems (cook-freeze, cook-chill and others). Food service operators have to minimize the impact of bulk production: the numerous steps in production process, the fundamental weakness in food safety design, the practical limitations in HACCP management, the potential unevenness of temperature distribution, and the product deterioration during storage. At present, the 'high tech' options, which can potentially improve a product's nutritional value, including natural preservation hurdles and functionalmeals, are not used in practice. The paper concludes that the culinary/food service education has to be complemented with the technological 'know how'.