A new club is being established to improve the efficiency of recording retort process temperatures. The current UK Department of Health (DoH) guidelines (1994) require that retort temperature is manually monitored and recorded on a regular basis from an independent temperature measuring instrument with traceable calibration.

The development of modern, highly automated retort systems offers more efficient alternatives such as electronic chart recorders or dataloggers. Whilst companies are moving towards these, with electronic record keeping, there is no guidance as to how electronic systems should be set up, controlled, maintained and calibrated.

This club aims to explore current practice and formulate publicly available best practice guidance that could supplement the existing DoH guidelines in this area. The club would seek comment and guidance from recognised thermal processing specialists, including the UK Food Standards Agency, IFTPS (Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists) and the US FDA. Comments on the scope of the club or enquiries for participation are very welcome.