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When we talk about RTE (ready-to-eat) meals, we mean packaged food ready to be eaten: ingredients are pre-cooked and mixed, they are fast to prepare and no kitchen competence is required. In USA and Europe they are marketed as convenience food or gourmet food; in other markets RTE meal is a good alternative to fresh food for many reasons:
- controlled preparation;
- availability all year round;
- availability in remote locations;
- can contain ingredients difficult to find
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RTE is normally prepared using automatic or semi-automatic batch food processing plants and then filled in suitable containers.
Heat treatment technology
When RTE meals have been packaged, they are heat-treated to prevent the growth of bacteria, fungi and other micro-organisms, as well as to retard the oxidation. Common methods of applying RTE meals preservation are:
Moreno Cedroni, one of the emerging young
Italian Chefs, currently uses GEA Levati FT
technology for a small top quality
production of ready to eat fish specialities.
- Freezing:
- long shelf life but danger of decay
if the cold chain is not preserved
(especially during transportation);
- conservation is expensive due to
refrigeration.
- Pasteurisation:
- long shelf life;
- optimisation of temperature and
timing allows good preservation
of product quality.
- Sterilisation:
- very long shelf life;
- product quality is a bit lower but a
good recipe can compensate
loss of flavour.
GEA Levati Food Tech offers a complete range of retort sterilizers designed to assure safe conservation without any deterioration of food organoleptic characteristics.
Click here to download the brochure about GEA Levati Food Tech retort sterilizers