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.
FDA Criteria for Approval of New Additives:
-GRAS list (Generally Recognized As Safe)
A potential manufacturer must show that additives are;
1) Effective
2) Detectable
3) Safe
Newer additives are better tested than old ones
Food Additives Amendments
(3 Different years listed)
1958, 1960, 1968
Purpose: the protection of public health & prevent consumer fraud.
Considers: Amount of additive, cumulative effect over a long period, & the potential to act as a toxin or carcinogen.
~ They should be used only when;
There is a technological need for their use.
Thy do not mislead consumers.
They present no health hazard to the consumer.
Additives in food
-Antioxidants
-Bleaching agents
-Emulsifiers
-Acidulants
-Humectants
-Preservatives
-Stabilizers
Additives: Antioxidants
Antioxidants:
Protect food, some vegetables, oils, & fats against oxidative deterioration, which can change their color, flavor, & rob it of nutrients; destroying its commercial appeal.
~Stabilizing food extends their storage.
Natural: Vitamin E, ascorbic acid.
Synthetic: TBHQ (tert-butyl hydroquinone, mono-tert-butyl hydroquinone)
-Propyl gallate
-BHA (Butylated hydroxy anisole)
-BHT (3.5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydrozytoluene).
Additives:
Bleaching agents:
-Used to artificially whiten flour, bread, cakes & pudding.
Includes; Chlorine, chlorine dioxide, benzoyl peroxide.
Emulsifiers
Emulsifiers keep oil & water mix.
~Used to aid in the formation maintenance of dispersion between two substances that would normally separate (e.g., mayonnaise & salad dressings).
Acetylated monoglycerides
Distilled monoglycerides
Sucrose esters, lecithin.
Additives : Humectants
Humectants are used to maintain desired moisture levels in foods by absorbing water from the air to prevent drying out.
EX. Sorbitol & Glycerol
Preservatives:
Used to prevent growth of microorganisms which could otherwise cause food decay. (in some cases, food poisoning).
~Extend the shelf-life of products: Propionic acid, Benzoates, citric acid, & ascorbic acid.
Additives : Acidulants
Acidulants are used to alter & control the acidity or alkalinity levels for different desired effects, which can include preservation, added/altered tartness, color retention, & to assist raising agents (baking powder).
Examples of Acidulants
Cloves
Ginger
Fructose
Monosodium
Glutamate
Citric acid
Lactic acid
Sodium bicarbonate
Additives: Stabilizer
Stabilizers are used in food to maintain the physical state of a food.
~Stabilize, retain, or intensify the existing color of food, particularly emulsions.
~Often used with emulsifiers.
*Alginate from algae
Additives : Flavorings
Substances used to give taste &/or smell to food.
Types; Natural (preparations from plant or animal origin).
~Artificial flavoring substances.
~Process flavorings which evolve flavor after heating (smoke flavorings).
Additives : Enriched
Enriched: When vitamins or minerals have been added to food to replace the original vitamins & minerals lost during the refinement process.
Additives : Fortified
Fortified: When vitamins or minerals have been added to food in addition to the levels that were originally found before the food was refined.
EX. Fe & folate in flour
Vitamin D in milk
Iodine in salt
Ca in orange juice
GRAS List
GRAS, “generally regarded as safe”
-A food product can be removed when the FDA has been demonstrated it is harmful.
~Cyclamate (synthetic artificial sweetener)carcinogens
~Safrole (formerly used as a flavoring agent in soft drinks)mutagen & carcinogen
~Coal-tar dyes (medical & industrial uses, has hundreds of PAHs)*carcinogen & organ damage
Food Additives Important Rules
Important rule about additives;
to avoid sodium nitrite, saccharin, caffeine, olestra (fat substitute), acesulfame K (calorie-sugar free substitute) & artificial coloring.
~Not only are they among the most questionable additives, but they are used primarily in foods of low nutritional value.
Sodium Nitrate
~Restores red color in meat
~Acts as a preservative, deterring spoilage, & botulism.
~Nitrates + compounds in meat = nitrosamines (carcinogens).
Food Safety Habits
Percent of Consumers who practice unsafe food handling;
50%, raw or undercooked eggs eaten.
23% eat undercooked hamburger.
17% eat clams or oysters.
26% do not wash cutting boards after handling raw meat or poultry.
Bacteria Need Warmth, water and nutrients;
Danger Zone 40 - 140 F
(Do not store food in the Danger Zone temperature for more than 2 hours.
Ten Gold Rule
World Health Organization (WHO);
1)Choose food processed for safety
2) Cook food thoroughly
3) Eat cooked food immediately
4) Store cooked food carefully
5) Reheat cooked foods thoroughly
6) Avoid contact between raw foods & cooked foods
7) Wash hands repeatedly
8) Keep all kitchen surfaces very clean
9) Protect food from insects, rodents, & other animals
10) Use pure water
What does HACCP stand for?
HACCP
Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point
~New system established by the government to improve the safety of the nation’s food supply.
~Establishes specific criteria (7steps) to ensure food safety from food to table.
Food Quality Protection Act (1996)
A new safety standard for all pesticide residues in food based on a “reasonable certainty of no harm”; aggregate exposure, & dietary exposure must be considered.
Tips to Reduce Pesticide Residues
1) Wash produce in cold or warm water, scrub with a brush. Do not use soap.
2) Throw away the outer leaves of leafy vegetables.
3) Peel produce (apples, pears, potatoes, & carrots).
4) Trim fat from meat, fat & skin from poultry & fish. Residues of some pesticides concentrate in animal fat **
Reducing exposure to pesticides
Wash produce thoroughly;
-brush fruit & vegetables clean
-weak vinegar solution
-maybe product like FIT (?)
(2) peel produce//and wash
(3) use a wide variety of produce
**there are more benefits to eating fruits & vegetables than there are risk.
EPA?
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
the EPA registers & establishes “safe” levels for each crop
FDA?
The FDA, Food and Drug Administration monitors the use of pesticides.
