OUTLOOK AND UNRESOLVED ISSUES

(Tentative) Outline of Chapter 11

I.          Introduction

II.        Unresolved issues

1.         Inactivation mechanism of DPCD

2.         Characterization of microbial survival curves during DPCD treatments

3.         Shelf life extension

4.         Food Quality

a)    Loss of nutrients (nutritional damage)

b)   Changes in sensory characteristics (appearance, color, flavor, and texture)

5.         Target foods

6.         DPCD processing and the hurdle concept

a)    DPCD processing and antimicrobial agents

b)   DPCD processing combined with other nonthermal processes

7.         Process equipment and intellectual property

a)    Batch versus continuous-flow DPCD processing plants

b)   Patents

8.         Fouling, cleaning and disinfecting

9.         Occurrence of DPCD-resistant mutants

10.     Connection of packaging equipment to process plant

11.     Economic evaluation

12.     Industrial implementation

13.     Legal aspects/Regulatory hurdles

a)    US (HACCP)

b)   Europe (Novel Foods)

14.     Quality assurance

III.       Future outlook/Conclusions