Food waste characteristics

Food wastes. Food wastes are the animal, fruit, or vegetable residues (also called garbage) resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, and eating of foods. The most important characteristic of these wastes is that they are putrescible and will decom pose rapidly, especially in warm weather. 

Food waste can be described as any by-product or waste product from the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food. It is characterized by its high proportion of organic matter and high moisture content. According to the literature reporting the characteristics of food waste. 

Rotary lobe slurry pumps are used with certain soft slurries with mild abrasion characteristics such as wastewater and sewage disposal, flotation slimes, digested scum, lime slurry in waste treatment plants. They are also used in food processing to move potato and starch pulp, mash, food paste, tomato paste, food wastes, and dairy waste and whey in milk processing. They are used in the paper industry to pump lime slurry and adhesives. They are used in the plastic recycling industry to pump plastic and Styrofoam cups. They are also used in the construction indnstiy for pumping bentonite siurries. clay slurries, and mud. 

The organic chemical industry, the food processing industry, the pulp and paper industry, the textile industry, and the petroleum industry are important industries that produce organic process wastes. Unlike inorganic process wastes, they contain dissolved and insoluble matter in the main wastewater stream thus, they are more difficult to handle for disposal. They have its characteristic biological problems and spontaneous interaction with the surrounding environment, particularly, under high solar radiation. 

From the consumer s perspective, cost is an important characteristic of the food and the best buy is the product that is considered to have the best ratio of quality and price. So consumers should welcome any measure that will improve quality at no extra cost or reduce the cost at no reduction in quality. In principle, using a CCP-based system at the level of a supply chain is supposed to do just that, since it will ensure that the controls are taking place at the steps where they can be implemented most effectively, thus eliminating superfluous double or triple testing of the same thing, or unnecessary waste when food is discarded because its safety is uncertain. 

Phenol is both a man-made chemical and produced naturally. It is found in nature in some foods and in human and animal wastes and decomposing organic material. The largest single use of phenol is as an intermediate in the production of phenolic resins. However, it is also used in the production of caprolactam (which is used in the manufacture of nylon 6 and other synthetic fibers) and bisphenol A (which is used in the manufacture of epoxy and other resins). Phenol is also used as a slimicide (a chemical toxic to bacteria and fungi characteristic of aqueous slimes), as a disinfectant, and in medicinal preparations such as over-the-counter treatments for sore throats. Phenol ranks in the top 50 in production volumes for chemicals produced in the United States. Chapters 3 and 4 contain more information. 

Mnshrooms are important in the ecosystem because they are able to biodegrade the substrate and therefore use the wastes of agricultural production [1]. Mushrooms have also been reported as therapeutic foods, useful in preventing diseases such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and cancer. These functional characteristics are mainly due to their chemical composition [2]. Heavy metal concentrations in mushroom are considerably higher than those in agricultural crop plants, vegetables and fmit. This suggests that mushrooms possess a very effective mechanism that enables them readily to take up some heavy metals from the ecosystem. 

The vegetation used to extract toxic metals may pose a risk to animals that consume these plants. Animal consumption of process plants could also result in harmful metals working their way up the food chain. Hyperaccumulation is a much slower process than most chemical and physical technologies, and its performance is typically measured in months or years. Technology effectiveness is limited by root growth thus, wastes must be relatively close to the surface. In addition, the toxicity of the targeted contaminants and other site-specific characteristics such as pH, soil characteristics, nutrient content, and water availability can impact technology performance. 

The manufacture of food chemicals, whether it involves chemical or biological synthesis and purification, or recovery from natural materials, has a number of characteristics that must be taken into account in establishing a system of good manufacturing practice. For example, in the production of many chemicals, recycling of process liquors and recovery from waste streams are necessary for reasons of quality, economics, and environmental protection. In addition, the production of some food chemicals involves processes in which chemical and biochemical mechanisms have not been fully elucidated, and thus the methods and procedures for materials accountability usually will differ from those applicable to the manufacture of other classes of materials. 

---