ASTM F1168-88(1994)

1.1 This guide contains guidelines and recommended procedures for use in the establishment of thermal processes necessary to produce commercially sterile foods packaged in hermetically sealed flexible containers. It applies to foods packaged in flexible containers that are sterilized by the application of heat from fluid heating media, particularly steam, air, water, their combinations, and their mixtures.

1.2 Specifically, this guide describes procedures for determining environmental conditions in the retort during thermal processing of foods in flexible containers and for determining heating and cooling characteristics of such products during processing. Procedures are described by which these data are used in the determination or evaluation, or both, of safe thermal processes for food packaged in flexible containers.

1.3 Limitations- This guide does not cover the theoretical and practical considerations that justify thermal processing as a means of rendering a packaged food product commercially sterile, nor does this guide describe methods by which thermal processes are verified or confirmed by biological methods, such as by inoculated pack and count reduction techniques.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.5 The sections in this guide appear in the following sequence:

Section Scope 1 Terminology 2 Summary of Guide 3 Significance and Use 4 Procedures: Temperature Measurement 5 Evaluation of Retort Performance 6 Process Time Determination by Heat Penetration 7 Tests Process Verification 8 Records of Temperature Distribution and Heat Pene- 9 tration Studies Retort Equipment Requirements X1 References