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Fresh stuffed PASTA Fresh pasta, stuffed pasta, successful products based on meat or cured meats as indispensable ingredients for traditional or innovative stuffing and dressing. Production line manufacturers and finished product manufacturers are always committed to study new technologies and applications
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ccording to recent Doxa/ Unaitalia research, lasagna tops among Italians’ favourite first courses in celebration or Sunday meals, with Millennials in front; 24% prefer fresh stuffed egg pasta, tortellini, ravioli, etc. 1 Italian out of 2 prefers the traditional recipe. With regard to innovation, 2020 Doxa study reveals that Italians appreciate new products when these concern their emotion without affecting their certainties. Readyto-eat food is judged innovative by 37% of Italian, on the condition that it is good and healthy. 23% of Italian thinks that sustainability and new tastes are important, as a reevaluation
of ancient or forgotten raw materials. The manufacturers have a demanding task: they must study new technologies and analyse consumption trends to conquer/keep an important position in the market on the one hand; maintain a stable position, instil trust in the consumer by taking inspiration from tradition on the other. In this context a clear, widespread and comprehensible communication becomes indispensable.
Stuffed pasta is successful for several reasons, the main being: • it’s easy and quick to cook • there are many types and sizes • shelf life of 2 to 3 months. Italians are willing to pay a suitable price to taste fresh pasta, especially stuffed pasta: from 3-4 euros per kg to 20 euros per kg, with an average price around 10 euros per kg for mass market retailers.
Regeneration of frozen food Introduction to the validation of indications contained in the labels of frozen lasagna - case study Daniela Merigo, Elena Dalzini*, Elena Cosciani-Cunico, Paola Monastero, Alessandro Norton, Stefania Ducoli, Guido Finazzi, Marina-Nadia Losio - Food Control Department, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, “Bruno Ubertini”, Brescia, Italy *Correspondent Author: elena.dalzini@izlser.it
INTRODUCTION onsumers’ demand for ready-to-eat products or frozen foods that can be consumed at home or on the job after regeneration in traditional or microwave oven has increased in the last years. The temperature required to guarantee the appetibility and the safety of foods depend on the food itself, on its composition, conservation, the previous processing it has undergone, and on the package that contains and protects it. It’s
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manufacturer’s duty to give the final consumer all the indications for proper regeneration, which in case of frozen foods include regeneration method (conventional oven or fanassisted oven, microwave, pan), time (usually minutes or seconds), and the minimum temperatures that must be reached at the end of the treatment (minimum temperature in the core of the product). These indications guarantee the regeneration and the consumption of a microbiologically safe product for the consumer.
It’s manufacturer’s responsibility to show that every possible measure has been adopted to pursue this goal. In fact, inadequate regeneration instructions might cause the product to be unsuitably warm, so less pleasing, or worse it may cause food poisoning (ECFF, 2006). Listeria monocyogenes is one of the most hightemperature-resistant pathogenic microorganisms (in vegetative form), and is even able to multiply at cold refrigeration temperatures.
