Program Level/Placement Course Title Course Code No. of Units Pre-Requisite Course Description Rationale
Program Level/Placement Course Title Course Code No. of Units Pre-Requisite Course Description Rationale
Teaching and Learning Online lecture, independent study, handouts, pdf, ppt
Activities
Assessment Methods
References/Readings Hand book for food preservation by: M. Shafiur Rahman 2 nd edition,
Food
- What is food
- Where does food come from?
- Food chain
Food processing
•methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for
consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry.
.e.g. Takes clean, harvested crops or slaughtered and butchered animal products and uses these to produce attractive,
marketable and often long shelf-life food products
Similar processes are used to produce animal feed. Extreme examples of food processing include the delicate
preparation of deadly fungi fish or preparing
spice food for consumption under zero gravity
•it encompasses all steps that food goes through from the time it is harvested to the time it reaches the retailer shops
or the final consumers.
e.g. Picking of vegetables or fruits from the garden sorting and washing before they are sent to the market
•Some processing methods convert raw materials into a different form or change the nature of the product as in the
manufacture of sugar from sugar cane, oil from sunflower and cheese from milk
•Processing may involve an extremely complex set of techniques and ingredients to create ready to eat convenience
foods
Food preservation
Processing techniques that make the food fit for consumption. i.e. the process of treating and handling food to stop
or slow down Food spoilage, loss of quality, edibility or nutritional value and thus allow for longer food storage.
includes chemical and physical changes such as bruising and browning, infestation by insects or other pests or
growth of micro-organisms such as bacteria yeast and molds.
•Preservation usually involves preventing the growth of bacteria, fungi (such as yeasts), and other micro-organisms
as well as retarding the oxidation of fats which cause rancidity.
•can also include processes which inhibit visual deterioration, such as the enzymatic browning reaction which can
occur naturally during food preparation.
•preserved food should retain their colour and taste. (i.e. colour and taste of food which is present at the time of
preservation should not change.) e.g. preserving grapes as raisins.
•should not change texture. But this applies to some of the foods and processing technique/method
Removal of unwanted outer layers, Chopping or slicing e.g. carrots Mincing and macerating meat Liquefaction, such
as to produce fruit juice Fermentation e.g. in beer breweries Cooking,
Mixing addition of gas such as air entrainment for bread or gasification of soft drinks
Spray drying
Pasteurization
Packaging
•Prehistorically food processing involves different activities such as slaughtering,fermenting, sun drying, preserving
with salt, and various types of cooking (such as roasting, smoking, steaming and oven baking).
•Evidence for the existence of these methods exists in the writings of the ancient Greek,Chaldean, Egyptian and
Roman civilizations as well as archaeological evidence from Europe, North and South America and Asia.
These tried and tested processing techniques remained essentially the same until the advent of the industrial
revolution. Examples of ready-meals also exist from pre industrial revolution times such as the Cornish
pasty/humburger and the Haggis/sausages
In the 19th and 20th century modern technology was largely developed to serve military needs.
•In 1809 Nicolas Appert invented a vacuum bottling technique that would supply food for French troops, and this
contributed to the development of tinning and then canning by Peter Durand in 1810.
•Although initially it was expensive and somewhat hazardous due to the lead used in cans, canned goods would later
become a useful container for food preservation around the World.
•In 1862, Pasteurization, was discovered by Louis Pasteur. This was a significant advance in ensuring the micro-
biological safety of food.
•In the 20th century, World War II, the space race and the rising consumer society in developed countries (including
the United States) contributed to the growth of food processing with such advances as spray drying, juice
concentrates, freeze drying and the introduction of artificial sweeteners, colouring agents, and preservatives such as
sodium benzoate.
•In the late 20th century products such as dried instant soups, reconstituted fruits and juices, and self cooking meals
•In Western Europe and North America, the second half of the 20th century witnessed a rise in the pursuit of
convenience; food processors especially marketed their products to middle-class working wives and mothers. Frozen
foods found their success in sales of juice concentrates and “TV dinners
•Processors utilized the perceived value of time to appeal to the post war population, and the same appealcontributes
to the success of convenience foods today.
• Mass production of food is much cheaper overall than individual production of meals from raw ingredients.
• Toxin removal
Benefits of food processing and preservation makes many kinds of foods safe to eat by de-activating spoilage and
pathogenic micro-organisms.
Improves the quality of life for people with allergies, diabetics, and other people can also add extra nutrients such as
vitamins Processed foods are often less susceptible to early spoilage than fresh foods
Limitations/drawbacks
Can lower the nutritional value of foods, and introduce hazards not encountered with naturally-occurring
products
Processed foods often have a higher ratio of calories to other essential nutrients than unprocessed foods, a
phenomenon referred to as “empty calories”. So-called junk food, produced to satisfy consumer demand for
convenience and low cost, are most often mass produced processed food products.
May cause adverse health effects.- Preservatives such as nitrites or sulphites. Failures in hygiene standards in “low-
level” manufacturing facilities that produce a widely-distributed basic ingredient can have serious consequences for
many final products
Processing
• Energy consumption, measured e.g. by “ton of steam per ton of sugar produced”
• Minimization of waste, measured e.g. by “percentage of peeling loss during the peeling of potatoes
• Labour used, measured e.g. by “number of working hours per ton of finished product”
• Minimization of cleaning stops measured e.g. by number of hours between cleaning stops”
Trends in modern food processing
• Cost reduction
• Health
• Hygiene -application of industry and government endorsed standards to minimize possible risk and hazards
e.g in USA- HACCP
• Efficiency:
Controlling insects, rodents, birds and other physical causes of food deterioration
• By removal of microorganisms. This is done by removing air, water (moisture), filtration, lowering or
increasing temperature, increasing the concentration of salt or sugar or acid in foods
• By hindering the growth and activity of microorganisms e.g. by low temperature drying, anaerobic
conditions or chemicals
Whenever microorganisms are added to a food and conditions are favourable the organisms will begin to multiply
and will pass through a succession of phases. When counts of organisms are made periodically and
the results are plotted with logarithms of number organisms per millilitres as ordinates and time units as abscissas, a
growth curve is obtained as illustrated in the following figure:
Food science technology by: Gustavo V. Barbosa- Canova, P. Michael
Davidson, Mark Dreher, Richard W. Hartel, 2 nd edition,
Food Processing and preservation by: B. Sivasankar, 6 th edition