Processing of food

D. A. Shapton and N. F. Shapton, eds.. Principles and Practices for the Safe Processing of Foods, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd., Oxford, U.K., 1991. 

The concept of heat processing of foods in hermetically sealed containers was introduced in 1810 (23). The role of microorganisms was unknown at the time, and only the so-called agents of putrefaction were eliminated. 

The effect of various pHs has been well known for some time. Acidic foods such as fmits tend to retard microbial growth and resist certain types of contamination. For this reason, the standards adopted industry-wide have been based on the processing of foods of high acidity (low pH). In the United States, the FDA has regulatory responsibiUty over the preparation, sterilization, and distribution of foods. 

Over the past 30 years, the world food production has grown faster than the population, the major basis of consumption. The world food production increased at an annual rate of 2.4% (grain production increased at 2.7%), while the world population increase is now less than 2% (9). Research and improved technologies have contributed to an increase in food availability, which will continue if an appropriate political, social, and economic environment exists. The world population, now at 5.5 billion, is predicted to be 10 billion in the last quarter of the next century (9) and will place greater demands on the production and processing of food. 

Lewis, M. and Fleppell, N. (2000). Continuous Thermal Processing of Foods—Pasteurization and UFIT Sterilization. Aspen Publishers Inc., Gaithersburg, MD. 

Y. Ikushima, N. Saito, K. Hatakeda and S. Ito, in Supercritical Fluid Processing of Food Biomaterials... 

The National Research Council has recognized the importance of the food protection problem and the need for an organization to provide technical counsel on the utilization of new materials in the production and processing of foods. The desirability of cooperative action by industry, government, and other research organizations in providing the scientific guidance required for the protection of the food supply has been emphasized. 

The changes that occur after the heat processing of food systems are often monitored by different parameters, such as total carotenoid content (and therefore isomerization and oxidation are underestimated), individual carotenoids (overall changes may be missed), and CIELAB color parameters (no information on carotenoid degradation mechanism). The data given in Table 12.3 reflects the influence of matrix composition, food state (liquid or solid), and measured parameter on the carotenoid degradation kinetics. 

Chiralt, A., Fito, P., Andres, A., Barat, J.M., Martinez-Monzo, J., and Martinez-Navarrete, N. 1999. Vacuum impregnation A tool in minimally processing of foods. In Processing of Foods Quality Optimisation and Process Assessment (F.A.R. Oliveira and J.C. Oliveira, eds), pp. 341-356. 

Tapia, M.S., Alzamora, S.M., and Welti-Chanes, J. 1996. Combination of preservation factors applied to minimal processing of foods. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 36, 629-659. 

Temperature conditions during thermal processing of foods. 

Maillard products are not only formed during cooking and other heat processing of foods, but also accumulate in some products that are rich in proteins and reducing sugars, e.g. condensed milk during months of storage at... 

Krone, C.A., Yeh, S.M.J. and Iwaoka, W.T. (1986). Mutagen formation during commercial processing of foods, Environ. Health Perspect., 67, 75-88. 

The plants and animals we have chosen to use as foods naturally contain, as we have already noted, thousands of chemicals that have no nutritional role, and when we eat to acquire the nutritionally essential chemicals we are automatically exposed to this huge, mostly organic, chemical reservoir. Of course, human beings have always manipulated foods to preserve them or to make them more palatable. Processes of food preservation, such as smoking, the numerous ways we have to cook and otherwise prepare food for consumption, and the age-old methods of fermentation used to make bread, alcoholic beverages, cheeses and other foods, cause many complex chemical changes to take place, and so result in the introduction of uncounted numbers of compounds that are not present in the raw agricultural products. 

One of the most important quality criteria of organic products is the absence of pesticide residues, as synthetic pesticides may be not be used in farming or for storage or processing of food sold with the organic label (AGOL/BNN 1995). 

M. Lewis and N. Heppell, Continuous Thermal Processing of Foods — Pasteurisation and UHT Sterilisation, Aspen Publishers, New York, 2000. 

In the processing of foods and additives, rheological and mechanical properties, which determine end use properties are of primary significance. These properties are also related to others such as the impact of taste. Taste is the perception on the taste buds on the surface of the tongue, and colloidal properties will thus have an important role. Gels are also known to be used in many food products. The stability of food products is determined by colloidal stability in many systems (Dickinson, 1992 Friberg, 1976). 

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