is in flow communication through a plurality of conduits 36 which connect the major components of the aseptic processing unit 18 at step 66 the pumpable food product 11 pumped via a conduit 36 to a first contherm 22 where the pumpable food product 11 is heated to a temperature of at least 133 u00b0 c 272 u00b0 f at step 68 the pumpable food product 11 is pumped to a holding tube 24 and held within the holding tube 24 for a minimum of 20 seconds to ensure a sufficient kill of microorganism which may cause spoilage of the pumpable food product 11 at step 70 the pumpable food product 11 is pumped to a second contherm 26 for cooling at step 72 the pumpable food product 11 is pumped to a packaging filler 28 for aseptic packaging from the second contherm 26 to the packaging filler 28 the pumpable food product has an approximate temperature of 32 u00b0 44 u00b0 c 90 u00b0 110 u00b0 f also between the second contherm 26 and the packaging filler 28 there is a back pressure valve 38 to assist in pressure control of the aseptic processing unit 18 referring again to step 68 the food product 11 must be subjected to a sufficient amount of heating to kill the microorganisms the amount of heating necessary is measured as accumulated lethality which is a function of the actual temperature a.