Packaged food products often undergo retort processing, a thermal processing in a pressurized vessel called a retort, to ensure their microbiological safety or shelf-stability under normal non-refrigerated conditions of storage and distribution. Retort processing is generally aimed to accomplish commercial sterility of packaged foods with acceptable nutritional and sensorial qualities. Fundamental principles on retort processing, such as thermal resistance kinetics of target microorganism, heat penetration theory, and methods for evaluating process sterility and food quality loss, were reviewed. Factors affecting process severity, heat transfer mechanism, and heat penetration efficiency were summarized. General features of retortable packaging formats including metal cans, glass jars, and plastic packages were also briefly reviewed.