Consistency of Foodstuffs

It has become increasingly clear that more attention is being paid to the physical chemistry and texture of foodstuffs as developments in food technology proceed more rapidly. Rheology, which has been skillfully introduced into polymer technology during recent years, should also be of direct relevance to food technology. The consistency of foodstuffs not only influences the processing of materials e.g. transport, mixing, etc., but it is also important for controlling the quality of food products. An older friend of mine, Dr T. Takano, and I have published a book Flow and Transport in Food Technology, in which we explained the concepts of rheo- logy in the first part, and discussed the technological applications in the latter part. As far as text books on the subject of rheology of foodstuffs are concerned, we have only a few at the present, for example, Foodstuffs, their Plasticity, Fluidity and Con- sistency edited by Dr Scott Blair, and Agricultural Rheology written by Dr Scott Blair and Dr Reiner. Although they are now classical works, there is clearly a difference between the social conditions of European countries and Japan.