Heating devices and methods which are particularly useful in vending machinesfor hot Foods. Foods such as beverages contained in individual containers suchascans are rapidly heated to serving temperature by induction heating fordelivery to acustomer. Various types of foods with food by varying the power and timing oftheinductive heating. The type of food is identified by machine-readable indiciaon thecontainer which are automatically scanned prior to heating. The foodcontainers maybe agitated before, during and/or after heating to mix the contents anddistribute heatevenly. The containers are heated in a vertical orientation to safely heat thefoodwithout overheating or damage to the container. A power management protocolturnsoff non-essential components of the vending machine while the inductive heaterisenergized to permit the vending machine to operate on a standard 120 VAC, 15 Aelectrical circuit without overload.
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