Heating is particularly important due to the requirements of having steam at different temperatures and pressures to achieve acceptable food safety levels. When considering opportunities for energy efficiency and savings in the food processing industry, food safety is the most important factor, and it cannot be compromised. For example, in canning, an adequate supply of energy by steam or hot water is necessary to obtain the right temperature during the process time in order to achieve commercial sterility. Optimizing energy use and efficiency can be accomplished by energy audits. However, these audits require data, information, and educational materials that are not readily available to the food processor.
Several factors make energy assessments difficult.
Team efforts between industry professionals and universities can achieve the development of energy audits to fulfill the need of energy efficiency and cost savings. The following are recommended objectives to any parties interested in studying energy in the small food processing industry. To study energy usage by representative small or medium size processing plants. To identify critical areas and factors to improve the efficiency of selected processing systems. To develop model energy audit questions that small and medium food processing companies can use for self-auditing and energy assessment.