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A definition of pH is the measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, commonly measured on a scale of 0 to 14. pH 7 is considered neutral, with lower pH values being acidic and higher values being alkaline or caustic. pH is the most common of all analytical measurements in industrial processing and since it is a direct measure of acid content [H+], it clearly plays an important role in food processing. Among the reasons for measuring pH in food processing include: To produce products with consistent well defined properties To efficiently produce products at optimal cost To...

Temperature is defined as the degree of hotness or coldness, as measured on a definite scale. Three temperature scales are in general use today: The Fahrenheit (°F) temperature scale is used in the United States and a few other English-speaking countries. The Celsius (°C) temperature scale is standard in virtually all countries that have adopted the metric system of measurement, and it is widely used in the sciences. The Kelvin (K) scale, an absolute temperature scale (obtained by shifting the Celsius scale by −273.15° so that absolute zero coincides with 0 K), is recognized as the international standard for scientific temperature...

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and Hot handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of Food the finished product. HACCP has been increasingly applied to industries other than food, such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This method, which in effect seeks to plan out unsafe practices based on science, differs from traditional “produce and sort” quality control methods that do nothing to prevent hazards from occurring and must identify them at the end of the process....

Anemometers measure air velocity. There are two basic types for different applications: Thermoelectric ("Hot Wire") Anemometers Heat a wire to a specified temperature and then measure the rate of cooling. This rate is proportional to air speed. Thermoelectric measurement provides fast response times and excellent sensitivity to very low air flows of <1 m/s, but these probes are also the most delicate of the two types and are not suitable for environments which are dusty, humid, corrosive or where there are rapid fluctuations in the ambient temperature, all of which effect the rate of cooling. These anemometers cover ranges of...

The actual area being measured is determined by the distance-to-spot ratio of the IR thermometer you are using, and this varies from model to model. As the distance from the object being measured increases, the spot size of the area being measured also increases.  For example, Sper Scientific’s IR Pen has a distance to spot ratio of 6:1 meaning that at 6" from the target it will measures the temperature of a 1" circle. At 12" it will measure a 2" diameter and so forth. See Sper's full line of Infrared Thermometers here.