ESA PRODUCTION COURSE PART I –
CHIPS & SNACKS: RAW MATERIALS TO FORMED PRODUCTS

17 – 19 April 2023 – Lisbon, Portugal

This three day intensive course organized by the European Snacks Association will provide an understanding of:

  • The market for savoury snack products across Europe
  • The key drivers for successful new snack product development
  • How potato chips, extruded, pelleted, and sheeted snacks are manufactured
  • Key techniques in popcorn and pretzel production
  • The food safety aspects you need to be aware of including an update on acrylamide
  • How to make the right raw material and process choices
  • How to exploit the versatility of different process solutions
  • How to maximise product quality and consistency

Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with experts with years of practical experience in the savoury snack food industry. They will empower you to trouble-shoot and evaluate your own processes and equipment, to find hidden areas of opportunity that could result in novel process solutions and new product ideas.

You will learn in detail about industry best practice and the latest practical applications of new technology, both to improve your product quality and consistency and to achieve potentially significant cost savings.

The course combines classroom lectures from leading experts in the savoury snacks industry with practical interactive sessions as appropriate.

Join the presentation of Prof. Dr. Stefan Töpfl  on 18 April and learn about new opportunities using PEF technology in chips production

Prof. Dr. Stefan Töpfl
Managing Director at Elea

ESA Snacks Association
Enrol here

Chips production – new opportunities using pulsed electric fields

Reduce costs

Reduced energy and water consumption. Softer raw material results in better knife ware.

Increase yield

PEF treated potato is softer resulting in easier cutting and less fines and breakages.

Control colour

Less oil uptake, increased water evaporation and lower frying temperatures lead to less browning and improved colour.

Improve quality

Elea PEF Advantage produces crunchier, crispier, brighter coloured, healthier chips.

New product opportunity

More flexible potato produced by PEF enables more complex cuts and shapes.

Join the presentation of Prof. Dr. Stefan Töpfl about new opportunities using PEF technology in chips production on 18 APRIL 2023, between 17:15 – 17:45 local time at the Ramada Hotel in Lisbon

PEF is finding more and more use in potato and vegetable snacks processing. Process benefits are based on an effect termed electroporation with the cell membrane as its target. All cells are surrounded by a membrane, separating the cell from its surrounding. Applying an external voltage results in a charge accumulation at the membrane and an increase in the potential is induced. This triggers an electrical compression of the cell membrane and results in a pore formation.

Plant cells, e.g. potato cells, soften when subjected to the PEF treatment, as they lose their internal cell pressure (turgor). Due to controlled texture softening of tubers cutting is improved, resulting in less starch loss, and therefore increasing product yield. A smoother surface also decreases oil uptake during frying. Facilitated moisture release allows reducing frying time and temperature which can lead to a production capacity increase and improved product appearance.