Method for pasteurizing liquid whole egg products

A process of ultrapasteurizing a liquid whole egg product, comprising:

• passing the liquid whole egg product as a continuous product stream through a pasteurizing apparatus;
• heating said product stream to a first temperature of at least 40.degree. C. by contacting said product stream to a heated surface;
• heating said product stream to a second temperature higher than said first temperature in an electroconductive heater containing an alternating current electrical heating means for providing an electrical voltage and current to said product stream therein, wherein said second temperature is not more than 15.degree. C. higher than said first temperature;
• holding the product stream for a holding time at least sufficient to provide a total thermal treatment to the liquid whole egg product sufficient to pasteurize the product;
• and
• aseptically packaging said liquid whole egg product to provide a packaged liquid whole egg product having a shelf life of four to thirty-six weeks under refrigerated conditions;
• wherein said electroconductive heater is controlled to compensate for conductivity changes in said liquid whole egg product caused by heating to thereby control the rate of temperature change of said liquid whole egg product;
• and wherein said electroconductive heater has a greater characteristic resistivity adjacent the heater outlet then adjacent the heater inlet for compensating for changes in the conductivity of said liquid whole egg product therein of up to about 4 siemens/meter;
• and
• wherein said electroconductive heater has a chamber length less than 40 times its characteristic dimension, wherein said characteristic dimension is four times the cross-sectional area of the liquid flow pathway of the heater divided by the average perimeter of the liquid flow pathway of the heater.

A process of ultrapasteurizing a liquid whole egg product, comprising:

• passing the liquid whole egg product as a continuous product stream through a pasteurizing apparatus;
• heating said product stream to a first temperature of at least 40.degree. C. by contacting said product stream to a heated surface;
• heating said product stream to a second temperature higher than said first temperature in an electroconductive heater containing an alternating current electrical heating means for providing an electrical voltage and current to said product stream therein, wherein said second temperature is not more than 15.degree. C. higher than said first temperature;
• controlling said electroconductive heater to compensate for temperature and conductivity changes in said liquid whole egg product caused by heating to thereby control the rate of temperature change of said liquid whole egg product;
• compensating for product stream conductivity change wherein said electroconductive heater has a greater characteristic resistivity adjacent the heater outlet than adjacent the heater inlet for compensating for changes in the conductivity of said liquid whole egg product by changing the conductivity of the electroconductive heater therein of up to about 4 siemens/meter;
• providing turbulence to said product stream for a major portion of the time the product is heated in said electroconductive heater by configuring said electroconductive heater to have a chamber length less than 40 times its characteristic dimension and said characteristic dimension is four times the cross-sectional area of the liquid flow pathway of the heater divided by the average perimeter of the liquid flow pathway of the heater, wherein said heater chamber length and characteristic dimension are sized to provide turbulence and minimize variation in the heating rate of the product within said electroconductive heater;
• holding the product stream for a holding time at least sufficient to provide a total thermal treatment to the liquid whole egg product sufficient to pasteurize the product;
• and
• aseptically packaging said liquid whole egg product to provide a packaged liquid whole egg product having a shelf life of four to thirty-six weeks under refrigerated conditions.