Second Edition, December 2025 - Thermal heat treatment is a process aimed at minimising public health risk or food spoilage and, in conjunction with hygienic filling, achieving the intended product storage life. This is achieved by the inactivation of relevant microorganisms including spores and the enzymes of concern, thereby achieving the desired shelf life of products. This guideline covers the specific design considerations for continuous or semi-continuous pasteurisation and sterilisation heat treatment of liquid particulate foods. Liquid particulate food is a food product that contains a liquid component and suspended solid food particles, whereby the particles can be of various sizes and types. These foods typically present processing challenges which are further described in this guideline. For liquid foods containing particles, it is important that the coldest spot of each particle reaches the required temperature and time for pasteurisation or sterilisation. When measuring the liquid temperature, only the temperature of the carrier phase is determined. During heating, the particle temperature is lower than the temperature of the carrier fluid phase due to the time it takes for the heat to penetrate the particle. Consequently, the holding tube design must consider the time it takes to reach the specified temperature in the centre of the particle.