FoodProcess-Lab is an open-source software framework for application of predictive microbial models on food process chains (e.g. production steps in breweries, dairy factories). Its intention is to help the food- and feed industry to monitor microbial development in production processes and to help public authorities to assess risks.
FoodProcess-Lab is an open-source extension to the Konstanz Information Miner (KNIME) and PMM-Lab. Process chains can be represented by combining nodes for process steps, ingredients and contaminating agents. To every step PMM-Lab models can be assigned in order to model the tenacity of microbial contaminants along the whole production chain. For this, duration of the process step, temperature, pH value, water activity and pressure are considered (depending on the model used).
The two KNIME plug-ins PMM-Lab and FoodProcess-Lab enable users to predict bacterial tenacity in a short period of time, for example during crisis situations. Workflows used for model generation and prediction can be exported and freely shared with others including raw data, formulas and estimated model parameters.