Marshall / McElhatton Food Safety

A Practical and Case Study Approach
1. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-0-387-33957-3
Verlag: Springer US
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 1, 322 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Integrating Food Science and Engineering Knowledge Into the Food Chain

Food Safety: A Practical and Case Study Approach, the first volume of the ISEKI-Food book series, discusses how food quality and safety are connected and how they play a significant role in the quality of our daily lives. Topics include methods of food preservation, food packaging, benefits and risks of microorganisms and process safety. The ISEKI-Food book series is a collection where various aspects of food safety and environmental issues are introduced and reviewed by scientists specializing in the field. In all of the books special emphasis is placed on including case studies applicable to each specific topic. The books are intended for graduate students and senior level undergraduate students as well as professionals and researchers interested in food safety and environmental issues applicable to food safety. "ISEKI-Food" is an acronym for "Integrating Safety and Environmental Knowledge Into Food Studies". Participants in the ISEKI-Food network, coordinated by Professor Cristina Silva at The Catholic University of Portugal, come from 29 countries in Europe and most of the institutes and universities involved with Food Science education at the university level in Europe are represented. Some international companies and non teaching institutions have also participated in the network. The main objectives of ISEKI-Food are to improve the harmonization of studies in food science and engineering in Europe and to develop and adapt food science curricula emphasizing the inclusion of safety and environmental topics.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

McElhatton, Anna

Marshall, Richard J.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preservation and Protection.- Methods of Food Preservation.- The Challenge of Mycotoxins.- Preventive Measures for Food Safety.- Packaging.- Benefits and Risks of Microorganisms.- Haccp in the Cheese Manufacturing Process, a Case Study.- Genetically Modified Organisms and Food Safety.- Nutritional Strategies Targeting the Beneficial Modulation of the Intestinal Microflora with Relevance to Food Safety: The Role of Probiotics and Prebiotics.- Exploitation of Microorganisms by the Food and Beverage Industry.- Pathogenic, Commensal and Beneficial Microorganisms in Foods.- Foodborne Viruses: An Emerging Risk to Health.- Process Safety.- Safety Models: HACCP and Risk Assessment.- Application of Haccp in Small Food Businesses.- Cleaning and Disinfection Procedures in the Food Industry General Aspects and Practical Applications.- Ensuring Biosafety Through Monitoring of Gmo in Food With Modern Analytical Techniques, a Case Study.

Leseproben

8 Exploitation of Microorganisms by the Food and Beverage Industry (p. 153-154)

GEORGE KALANTZOPOULOS1, MANUELA PINTADO2, AND ANA GOMES2

1. Introduction

The food and beverage industry exploits non-pathogenic microorganisms for the production of fermented foods. These foods are prepared from raw or headed raw materials and acquire their characteristic properties by a process that involves microorganisms. In certain cases the endogenous enzymes of the wild microflora of the raw material may play a decisive role. 3It is believed that fermented foods originated from the Orient and date back to the prehistoric times. Originally, these were fermented "spontaneously" by autochthonous strains found in the raw materials or the environment, this was the start of traditional biotechnology. Historical reports show that long established artisanal and religious practices utilized cultures, which were very similar to the starter cultures applied today. The most important were cheese, yoghurt, wine, vinegar, beer, bread and the traditional fungal fermentation used in Asia and Africa, for the production of food. In general, all kinds of microorganisms are used for fermentations, but in Europe bacteria and yeasts are more commonly used than moulds. Through the ages, people gained more and more experience to control these processes and fermented foods became an independent class of foodstuffs. As regards taste, aroma, visual appearance, texture, consistency, shelf-life and safety, these different products possess characteristic properties compared to the raw materials or to other similar products.

The use of fermented milks and cheese dates back many centuries, although there is no precise record of the date when they were first made. In the Bible there are various references to fermented foods. When the Patriach Abraham entertained three angels, he put before them soured and sweet milk (Genesis VIII, 8). Also, Moses having considered the food given by Jehovah to his people mentions the soured milk of cows and goats (Deuteronomy, XXXII 14), (Davis, 1952). Homer in Odysseus mentioned the production of cheese from the first cheesemaker of the world Polyfemus. From this period until today, cheese has become one of the most important fermented products of the world.

The art of producing beers and wines has developed over 5000-8000 years. There must have been several independent discoveries on how fermented beverages arose from exposing fruit juice or cereal extracts to the air. The explanations for the fermentations were available during the nineteenth century but such did not promote a steady improvement in manufacturing techniques, but only in volume. During the height of the Egyptian and Babylonian civilizations some 4300 years ago, the details of brewing were well-illustrated. During Greek and later Roman domination, wine became an important item of international commerce. The beverages were attractive, particularly for those individuals who enjoyed few pleasures, in that they produced alcoholic euphoria (Hough et al., 1982). The production of bread started at the same time with the cultivation of cereals. The Egyptians, and later the Jews, prepared the "galets" with the use of beer yeasts. Later on, the Greeks discovered bread and produced it from different kinds of cereals. Relative history reports that in this period in Athens 72 different kinds of bread were produced (Derieux , 1988).

In the 1st century A.D., Plinius the Elder (Derieux , 1988), described storage of white cabbage in special earthen vessels, which were used only for this purpose. Nowadays, it has been established that the conditions described by Plinius, were those of the fermentation of cabbage to sauerkraut by microorganisms, which were located in the pores of the vessels and which had persisted from a former fermentation.

Plinius also described the production of bread in Gaule and in the Iberian countries via the use of foam taken from the beer production process. Presently, it is still possible to observe primitive forms of starter application during preparation of several fermented beverages in some parts of Africa. During a religious ceremony preceding the fermentation, the medicine man dips cult objects into the liquid, which again contains microorganisms from a previous batch.

In the Middle Ages brewing was an art or mystery, the details of which were jealously guarded by the master brewers and their guilds. Mystery it certainly was because there was virtually no appreciation of the reasons for the various processing steps, most of which, like fermentation, had been discovered by chance. Thus, malting involved immersing barley in water and permitting it to sprout but the reasons for the barley becoming soft and sweet was not understood. Similarly, the reasons for drying the germinated barley under relatively cool conditions were cloaked in mystery (Hough et al., 1982).