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FOOD SPOILAGE
Learning objectives:
To understand the need to preserve food.
To understand the factors that promote enzyme and microbial activity.
To understand the underlying principles of methods of food preservation used in the home.
Food spoilage - Food becoming unfit for consumption, for example, due to chemical or biological contamination.
Food Groups
1. Highly Perishable
Meat
Fruit
Milk
Vegetables
Eggs
2. Semi perishable
Potatoes
Nuts
Flour
3. Stable
Rice
Dry beans
As soon as food is harvested, slaughtered or manufactured into a product it starts to change. This is caused by two main
processes:
Autolysis (non-microbial) self destruction, caused by enzymes present in the food;
Microbial spoilage caused by the growth of bacteria, yeasts and molds.
1|P age
Sources of microorganisms in food
The primary sources of microorganisms in food include:
1. Soil and water
2. Plant and plant products
3. Food utensils
4. Intestinal tract of man and animals
5. Food handlers
6. Animal hides and skins
7. Air and dust
ENZYME ACTION
1. Ripening - Enzymes cause food to ripen, then become over-ripe and eventually decay. Starch changes to sugar, colour
changes and texture softens.
2. Browning - When certain foods are cut and the surface exposed to air, enzymes cause them to turn brown. e.g.
apples,
3. Enzymatic rotting - Enzymes in fish cause deterioration even at low temperatures.
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Tip: Dont eat for 24 hours. Drink cooled boiled water.
Caused by eating food containing large numbers of pathogenic bacteria that produce endotoxins.
The endotoxins are released when the bacteria die in your intestine.
Endotoxins are easily destroyed by normal cooking/heating of food.
Symptoms take longer to occur - over 12 hours.
Salmonella and listeria cause infectious food poisoning.
Liquid protein foods (drinkable yogurt , milk, shakes and high-protein smoothies
Milk, cream, eggs (protein rich)
Meat, poultry, fish.
Meat dishes e.g. pies, gravies.
Soups and stocks.
Egg dishes e.g. custard, mayonnaise.
Reheated dishes.
Dehydrated foods Foods from which the water has been removed.
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7. Refrigeration - the lowering of the temperature of food to inhibit the growth of bacteria, molds and yeasts.
8. Freezing - the lowering of the temperature of food to temperatures below 28 degrees F to stop the growth of
bacteria, yeasts and molds and to kill parasites.
9. Freeze-drying - the freezing of food and the subsequent removal of water from the frozen food through the use
of heat and a vacuum.
10. Food concentration - heating food until it boils and removing the water or partially freezing food and removing
water in the form of ice crystals.
11. Irradiation - passing energy through food to destroy insects, fungi, or bacteria that cause human disease or
cause food to spoil.
Disadvantages of freezing
Most food contains large amounts of water. When water is frozen, ice is formed. Large ice crystals are formed
when food is slowly frozen, this can damage the cell structure of the food. When the food defrosts, the water enclosed
within the cells is released, e.g. cell damage in soft fruits (strawberries) and the collapse of some colloidal systems in
food products, e.g. cream. Freezing food quickly can reduce the size of ice crystals. When frozen, micro-organisms do
not die, they simply become dormant, retarding their growth. Molds can still grow in cold temperatures.
4|P age