Sticking

Sticking is the process of adhesion: food adhering to pans, conveyor belts, moulds, packaging, or teeth during processing and eating. It is one of the most common nuisances in food manufacture, governed by surface energy, moisture, temperature, and the food’s composition, particularly its sugars, starches, and proteins. Food engineers combat it with non-stick coatings, release agents such as oils and waxes, precise temperature control, and hygienic equipment design that eliminates crevices where product can lodge, overheat, and burn. What sticks and burns becomes both a quality defect and a cleaning burden.