New Gamma foods

What are they?

New range is a food classification.

New range foods are products that are subdivided according to the degree of PROCESSING; all the treatments useful for the production of new range foods are aimed at favoring their preservation, reducing their overall perishability.

1. First range
2. Second range
3. Third range
4. Fourth range
5. Fifth range

Let's see them in more detail ...

First Range

• Foods of the first range: all products that have NOT undergone any processing, artifact or treatment by man are first class foods; in a nutshell, first class foods are FRESH and in no way preserved. The category includes, for example, fresh vegetables that receive little or no conditioning activity: refrigeration and / or modified atmosphere. They can be introduced to the market immediately upon collection, or after reduced storage. The result is the maintenance of the initial qualitative characteristics, but they are subject to strong perishability.

Second Range

• 2nd range foodstuffs : all the products that have undergone HEAT THERMAL STABILIZATION, such as PASTEURIZATION and STERILIZATION, or are preserved by adding NATURAL CHEMICAL ADDITIVES: OIL, UNDERWEAR etc. . For example, fruit and vegetables commonly known as preserves and semiconserves belong to this category. The duration of the conservation period is long, in the order of months, if not even years, but they lose most of the nutritional properties, especially the vitamin content.

Third Range

• 3rd range foods: the products that have undergone heat treatment with COLD UNDER ZERO (<0 ° C) are third range foods; simplifying, FROZEN and FROZEN foods are III foods. Thanks to rapid freezing (freezing) the storage time is medium long and is associated with a reduced alteration of the initial organoleptic and nutritional quality.

Fourth Range

• Range foods: products that are fourth range are products that DO NOT HAVE ANY THERMAL TREATMENT (neither heat nor cold) BUT they are CLEAN, CUT and PACKED in trays READY TO CONSUME; NB. Range IV foods are preserved FOR A LIMITED TIME PERIOD and exclusively after REFRIGERATION. Examples are fresh fruit and vegetables that are washed, cut, packaged in bags or trays, plastic or plastic film, so as to be ready for consumption. The shelf life is a few days, provided that the maintenance of a temperature that is continuously (on average) between 0 and 4 ° C is guaranteed throughout the post-harvest phase: from processing, to transport, to storage. The "minimal processes" to which IV range products are subject differ from this general principle because in many cases they tend to stress perishability, for example cutting for fragmentation in cylinders, cubes, slices and more. Because of these processes, the product becomes highly perishable and therefore must be subjected to transfers supported by various technologies, from bioconservation (use of lactic bacteria) to storage in a modified atmosphere.

Fifth Range

• Range foods: SEMI-FINISHED foods are fifth grade, therefore ALL products that have already undergone a THERMAL COOKING TREATMENT and are subsequently PACKAGED UNDER VACUUM or in MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE; Fifth range foods are usually kept at REFRIGERATION temperatures. Examples are the frozen precooked French fries. In the same way as range IV products, the most salient commercial aspects are the average storage period of 10-16 days and the maintenance of valuable organoleptic characteristics, even if the aroma can be distinguished from the freshly cooked product

Summary table