Book excerpt: The emergence of 'minimal' processing techniques, which have a limited impact on a food's nutritional and sensory properties, has been a major new development in the food industry. This book provides an authoritative review of the range of minimal techniques currently available, their applications and safety and quality issues. - Reviews the range of minimal processing techniques, their advantages and disadvantages and their use in food production - Discusses the range of thermal technologies, such as infrared heating, ohmic heating, and dielectric methods, including the use of microwaves - Presents alternatives to thermal processing, ranging from irradiation to high pressure processing and the use of pulsed electric fields