Files
Abstract
Excerpts: Freeze-drying has advanced beyond the realm of the laboratory and test tube. It is now in the evolutionary stage of market testing. For example, a prominent cereal manufacturer is presently conducting market tests of freeze-dried strawberries and corn flakes in Columbus, Ohio. Next month this company will be testing on the west coast a cereal combination of freeze-dried prunes and bran flakes. In the Midwest a dairy company is market testing freeze-dried cottage cheese. A dozen or more other companies are testing a range of new foods. Although not what we would call a full-fledged processing industry, freeze -drying is growing in that direction. In this country, there are about 10 processors drying by sublimation, in Canada there are several more, and in the rest of the world about 23 other plants are in production. Several freeze-drying plants are now being built in the United States, and about five are under construction abroad, including one in Japan and one in Brazil. With this flurry of activity in freeze-drying there is cause for concern among freezers, frozen food distributors, owners of retail stores, locker plant managers, and others in the frozen food business. Conjectures are being made concerning the impact of this process on the frozen food industry, and questions such as these are asked: (1) How do freeze-dried foods compare with frozen ones in palatability? (2) What are the costs of freeze-dry processing? (3) How might freeze-drying affect the frozen food industry?