Production and processing of food
The purpose of processing and manufacturing food.
Reasons for processing/manufacturing foods include:
improving the keeping quality of food
ensuring a continuous, safe supply of food
increasing the availability, variety and convenience of food
providing attractive, palatable, nutritious food
standardising the quality of food
HACCP stands for
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points.
Difference between food deterioration and spoilage.
Food deterioration is the decline in a food’s quality, nutritional value or sensory properties. Food spoilage occurs when food becomes unsafe to eat due to factors such as contamination.
The purpose of food preservation.
To prevent or slow food deterioration and spoilage, extend shelf life, maintain food quality, and improve food safety.
The purpose of food packaging.
Food packaging provides containment, protection, preservation, convenience and communication.
The difference between processing and manufacturing.
Processing improves the safety or usability of food without fundamentally changing it, eg washing and grading potatoes. Manufacturing involves transforming the food into a new or modified food product, eg turning potatoes into frozen chips.
A step in food production that must be controlled.
A Critical Control Point - a critical step in food production that must be controlled to prevent, eliminate or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. Failure to control the CCP could result in unsafe food reaching consumers.
Causes of food deterioration and spoilage.
Microorganisms (biological agents that can cause microbial spoilage), enzymes (biological catalysts that can cause enzymatic deterioration) endenvironmental factors (light, mositure, oxygen, insects) that influence the rate ofdeterioration and spoilage
The principles of preservation.
Control of temperature
Removing oxygen
Restricting available water
Lowering pH
Labeling requirements.
Label providing: prduct name, weight/volume, ingredients list, nutrition panel, manufacturer's/ importer's details, storage/use directions, allergens, best before/expiry date
Some common operations used in food processing and manufacturing.
Common operations include cleaning, grading, sorting, mixing, heating, chilling, freezing, drying and packaging.
The quality control process involves regularly checking.
Monitoring
Naturally occurring reactions that lead to deterioration.
Enzymes naturally present in foods can cause changes in colour, flavour, texture and nutritional value.
Purpose and process of pasteurisation.
Pasteurisation uses controlled heating for a specific time and temperature to destroy or reduce harmful microorganisms. For example, milk is commonly pasteurised at 72°C for 15 seconds.
A type of packaging interacts with the food or its environment.
Active packaging interacts with the food or its environment to maintain or improve food quality and extend shelf life. It may use oxygen absorbers, moisture absorbers or antimicrobial agents to slow deterioration and microbial growth.
Main types of food manufacturing systems.
Job, batch, continuous and mass production.
A quality control process that measurements the characteristics of a product.
Testing
Environmental conditions are required for microbial survival and growth.
Micro-organisms require certain environmental conditions for survival and growth:
• nutrient source
• available water
• suitable temperature
• suitable pH (acidity or alkalinity)
• suitable atmosphere.
The influence of water activity of micorbial growth.
Lower water activity reduces the water available for microorganisms to grow, helping extend shelf life. Methods such as drying, salting and adding sugar reduce water activity and therefore slow microbial growth.
A packaging method controls the gases inside a package.
MAP replaces the air inside food packaging with a controlled mixture of gases, such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. This slows microbial growth and chemical reactions, helping maintain food quality and extend shelf life.
The benefits of computerised and robotic systems in food manufacture.
Increased production speed and efficiency, improved accuracy and consistency, reduced labour costs, improved food safety and reduce workplace risks.
A batch of yoghurt has inconsistent texture
ingredient measurement, temperature and processing time to prevent the problem
Temperature danger zone.
The temperature danger zone is 5°C to 60°C, where food-poisoning bacteria can multiply rapidly. Foods should be kept at 5°C or below or 60°C or above to limit bacterial growth.
The benefit of mutliple presevation principles
Using several methods, such as heating, refrigeration and reduced water activity, creates a number of hurdles for microorganisms, making it more difficult for them to survive and grow than relying on one method alone.
The effect of storage temperature of frozen food.
Freezing at −18°C or below inactivates enzymes and inhibits microbial growth, helping maintain food quality and extend shelf life.
Interesting fact:
Slowly freezing (−18°C) causes the fomation of large ice crystals can form and damage cell walls, resulting in loss of moisture and a poorer texture when thawed. Quick freezing/Snap freezing (−33°C) reuslts in the formation of small ice crystals that cause less damage to cell walls and help maintain the food's texture and quality.