Food Manufacturing Flashcards
Why is it important for food manufacturers to use good quality raw ingredients when manufacturing food?
- Ensure high-quality production of their food
- Avoid major variances
- Maximise taste and appearance of product
What are the raw material and why are these crucial for the food manufacturer?
- Rating of the supplier
- Reliability
- Location (where they are situated)
- What type of raw material they produce
- Ability to supply the quantity and size needed
- Cost (affected by season or natural disaster)
- Delivery
What are additives?
Any substances added to a food, not normally used as a typical ingredient of food.
Explain the numbering system used for additives in Australia?
The numbering system used in Australia is based on an international system used to identify all food additives
Explain 6 different additives and discuss their purpose.
- Anti-oxidants (preservatives): added to prolong shelf life
by preventing oxidation which causes rancidity
discolouration (frozen cooked prawns, margarine) - Acids: Control acidity level
- Colours: Restores colour lost when processing, enhance
appearance (confectionary, jams) - Gums: improve texture and keep parts together
- Sweeteners: Substitutes for sugar, sweet taste (Diet soft
drinks, sugarless gum) - Thickeners: improve viscosity and ensure consistently
texture (sauces, casserole mixes)
Discuss the different levels of production in food manufacturing and give examples.
- Household (homemade cookie): household / domestic appliances (kitchen-aid, stove top)
- Small Business (Local bakery): electrical equipment however not automated (bigger mixers larger ovens, larger amount of manual labour)
- Large company (Brasserie bread): Combination of automated and computerised systems and large quantities.
- Multinational (Arnotts) - Fully automated, Fully computerised, Worldwide. State of the art equipment to fill extraordinary large amounts. Robotics.
What are unit operations?
The specific processes the food undergoes during production (Heating, mixing, transportation)
name 3 different unit operations and explain what occurs in each of them
Separation processes:
- sieving eg. used to remove foreign particles from shelled particles
- Filtration eg. removing liquid or whey from curd in the cheese making
Size reduction processes: Griding salt or peanuts into peanut butter.
Mixing: making bread and biscuits. combining ingredients.
Define ‘quality control’
done individually / in parts in the company; measuring characteristics, comparing them to a standard, and act on any differences, to satisfy consumers and their safety.
Define ‘quality assurance’
Quality assurance is all parts of the company working together to maintain the quality of products produced.
What is HACCP?
A system used to ensure food for consumers and food workers are safe. It is a quality management technique (compulsory in some sectors) that identifies potential hazards within the production of food products and methods of dealing with them.
Why is HACCP critical in food manufacturing?
- More profit for business: Wastes less product and has to redo less work
- Product has edge over competition
- Problems prevented rather than treated
- Consumers feel confidence in product’s safety
- Employees feel more controlling of work environment and improved job security
Why do food manufacturers need to adhere to the 2011 Work Health and safety act?
- Provides a framework to protect the health, safety and welfare of all workers at work.
- Protects the health and safety of all other people who might be affected by work.
Explain the 5 causes of food spoilage
- Environmental Factors: include light, water, oxygen,
infestation, moisture, food. - Physical Reactions: Bruising and denting when a product
is being transported / delivered (eg. fruit bruising,
freezing, burning, pressure) - Microbial activity: bacteria, viruses, yeasts and moulds
already present in the food or from surrounding
environments (mould, sliminess on meat). - Enzymatic activity: enzymes continue to work after the material has been gathered and eventually breaks down the food (fruit and veg, meat and discolouration)
- Other living mechanisms: Bugs, rodents, and animal (weevils in flour
Explain 4 principles of preservation
- Exclusion of air: Microbes require air to be active. No air = unfavourable environment, microbes become dormant.
(vaccuum sealed, cans, bottles) - Removal of Moisture: enzymes and microbes require water to be active. (ie. freeze drying, dehydration, spray drying, adding salt & sugar.
- Control of pH: Dissovling substances in water (ie salt and sugar) chemically alter the water, making it unavailable to microbes and enzymes
- Control of Temperature:
low temps = chilling & freezing to slow down microbial growth (fridge & freezing)
high temps = limits enzymatic action hot water /steam 95 degrees 1-5 min (blanching, canning, pasteurisation,