Food Quality: 11-2 Flashcards
Food Quality
-Requirements for food safety standard procedures that are allowed in the production and preparation of food for human consumption.
Food quality; is the control & addition of all desirable characteristics which make food acceptable to eat.
Food Quality includes:
1) Nutritional value
2) Aesthetic quality, includes color, flavor, texture, and appearance.
3) Functional property, how the ingredients behave during preparation & cooking; how they affect the final food product (e.g., heat breaks down starch to form dextrin’s).
4) Safety, absence of microorganisms, chemicals, or toxins in food.
Food Safety History
From the time of immemorial, humans have been concerned with protection of food stored with insects, mold, & rodents.
- There are many experiences that are negative regarding natural toxins in certain crops.
Because of these historical events, there have been many ways that have been constructed to avoid food poisoning.
Food Quality in the U.S. Historical:
1800s, sporadic problems to food quality, people served as their own food inspectors.
Late 1800s, the government regulation of food quality was focused on commercial baked bread.
1900s, food safety regulation was prerogative of state or local authorities.
1906, continuous scandals about food adulteration led congress to approved the Pure Food and Drugs Act.
-First federal laws intended to protect consumers against adulteration, mislabeling of foods, & harmful ingredients in food.
SLIDE 7
International
National
Local levels
Food Perishability
Food perishability, is the finite time that a product is considered to remain satisfactory in quality after manufacture or retail purchase.
How Food Perishability is determined:
-Chemical Nature
The way that it has been processed:
1) Processed
2) Packaged
3) Distributed & stored
~Fresh foods are more fragile, they rot more quickly by bacterial decomposition, therefore reducing their quality.
~Food perishability is basically due to deficient temperature control during storage.
Perishable Food:
~Perishable food should be kept refrigerated (32-35 F)
~Should be consumed in a period that ranges from 2 - 30 days.
~Low temperature slows down changes
~Ambient (moist) & high temperature make them to decay quickly.
The category of perishable food can include, but not limited to;
Fresh fruits, vegetables, milk products, bakery items, processed dairy, fresh meats, fish, & poultry.
Semi-Perishable Foods
Semi-perishable foods do not have a very long shelf life.
~This ranges between 30-90 days (32-90 F)
Lasts longer because of:
Their natural protective barriers, such as an egg shell.
Added inhibitors such as salt, vinegar, food additives or a type of preservation (pickling, smoking, and pasteurization).
This group of food products includes:
-Eggs, cheese, cured meats, pickled foods, processed salads, some fruits, & some vegetables.
Non-perishable foods
Non-perishable foods typically last 90 days to 30 years.
This duration has to do with;
-Processing and packing system used
-Storage
-Temperature
-Humidity
Common non-perishable foods:
1) Canned foods: processed at high temperatures to destroy microorganisms & their seal prevents further contamination.
2) Dried foods: the humidity level is reduced to a point where the germs proliferation will not occur (nuts, grains, cereal, pasta)
3) Vacuum packed: to remove air, reducing spoilage.**
4) Some frozen foods: considered shelf-stable because the temperature at which they are stored.
SLIDE 13 : Food canned cycle
Storage environment & Food quality
~Constant low temperature, most important factor in extending the life of fresh food (perishable & semi-perishable).
{Slow down deterioration effect of bacteria, molds, yeasts, & enzymatic breakdown}.
Storage & Nutritional Value
- Major preservation methods cause changes in the nutrition value of food.
-Most of the changes occur due to improper storage of food under inadequate environmental conditions; temperature & humidity.
Storage & Nutritional Value
Vitamins:
1) Meat, lost thiamin (B1), & riboflavin (B2) under frozen conditions.
2) Milk, lose substantial amounts of vitamin B2 & C is stored in a clear bottle in the sunlight.
3) Fruits and vegetables, lose a lot of vitamin A & C if they are held at room temperature.
Vitamins::
-Fruits & vegetables stored at temperatures between 0 & -18 F in vitamin C & A good retention levels.
Vitamin E, can best be preserved by packaging or in freezing packages oxygen impermeable.
Food Additives
Substances intentionally added to food in order to modify its;
Taste, color, texture, nutritive value, appearance, resistance to deterioration.
Food Additive history:
~Late 1900s in the US, ~80 synthetic agents were used for food coloring & flavoring.
~Many had never been tested for human poisoning.
~Some of these agents were developed for the textile industry without any intention to be used later as food additives.
Some examples: Pickles, colored green with copper.
Candies, colored with lead & copper.
Bread, whitened with alum.
