First Edition, 2009
ISBN 978 93 80075 53 2
© All rights reserved.
Published by: Global Media 1819, Bhagirath Palace, Chandni Chowk, Delhi-110 006 Email:
[email protected] Table of Contents 1. Food Safety 2. Food Safety Enforcement 3. Preparation of Healthy Food 4. Protection of Hot Foods 5. Sanitation 6. Food Processing
Food Safety Food flow —the path that food follows from receiving through serving —is important for determining where potentially significant food safety hazards may occur. At each operational step in the flow, active management of food preparation and processes is an essential part of business operations. For instance, quick-service, full-service, and institutional providers are major types of food service operations. Each of these has its own individual food safety processes. These processes are likely to be different from a deli in a retail food store. Some operations may have all three types of processes or variations of the three. Identifying the food process flows specific to your operation is an important part of providing a framework for developing a food safety management system. Generally, the food will pass through the temperature danger zone only once before it is served to the customer, thus minimising the opportunity for bacterial growth. The preparation step may involve several processes, including thawing a frozen food, mixing in other ingredients, or cutting or chopping. It is important to remember that added ingredients may introduce additional contaminants to the food. Cutting or chopping must be done carefully so that cross contamination from cutting boards, utensils, aprons, or hands does not occur. Control points at this operational step include good sanitation and handwashing. During cooking, food will be subjected to hot temperatures that will kill most harmful bacteria, parasites, and viruses that might be introduced before cooking. It is the operational step where raw animal foods are made safe to eat, and therefore, time and temperature measurement is very important. Temperature of foods during hot holding must be maintained until service so that harmful bacteria do not survive and grow. Failure to adequately control food product temperature is the one factor most commonly associated with foodborne illness. Foods prepared in large volumes or in advance for next day service usually follow an extended process flow. These foods are likely to pass through the temperature danger zone several times. The key in managing the operational steps within the process is to minimise the time foods are at unsafe temperatures.
In some cases, a variety of foods and ingredients that require extensive employee product preparation may be part of the process. A sound food safety management system will incorporate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for personal hygiene and cross contamination prevention throughout the flow of the food. Before you set up a management system for your operational steps, there are several factors you
should consider. Multiple step processes require proper equipment and facilities. Your equipment needs to be designed to handle the volume of food you plan to prepare. For example, if you use a process that requires the cooling of hot food, you must provide equipment that will adequately and efficiently lower the food temperature as quickly as possible. If you find that a recipe is too hard to safely prepare, you may want to consider purchasing pre-prepared items from a reputable source. Although managers are responsible for designing the system, implementation involves the efforts and commitment of every employee. Education and training of both management and employees are important in their respective roles of producing safe foods. In developing a food safety system, you need to identify the hazards that exist in the flow of foods in your operation from receiving to serving. Hazards include: • pathogens or toxins present in food when you receive them, • pathogens that may be introduced during preparation (example: using a raw animal food as one ingredient), • pathogen growth or toxin production during storage, preparation, or holding. • pathogens or toxins that survive heating, and • contaminants, (i.e., pathogens, chemicals, physical objects), that are introduced to food by food workers or equipment. You need to identify the hazards associated with various foods and ingredients, such as: • Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni in raw poultry, • E. coli O157:H7 in raw ground beef, • Staphylococcus aureus toxin formation in cooked ham, • Bacillus cereus spore survival and toxin formation in cooked rice, • Clostridium perfringens spore survival and subsequent growth in cooked foods, and • Hazards specific to seafood. Ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous food is a special concern at receiving. Because this food will not be cooked before service, microbial growth could be considered a significant hazard for receiving refrigerated, ready-to-eat-foods. Having SOPs in place to control product temperature is generally adequate to control the hazards present at receiving of these products. Besides checking the product temperature, you will want to check the appearance, odor, color, and condition of the packaging. When food is in refrigerated storage, your management system should focus on preventing the growth of bacteria that may be present in the product. This is primarily achieved through temperature control. Special attention needs to be given to controlling and monitoring the temperatures of potentially hazardous ready-to-eat foods. When determining the monitoring frequency of product storage temperature, it is important to make sure that the interval between temperature checks is established to ensure that the hazard is being controlled and time is allowed for an appropriate corrective action. Monitoring procedures for ready-to-eat food ideally include internal product temperature checks. You need to assess whether it is realistic and practical for you to do this, depending on the volume of food you are storing. You may choose to base your monitoring system on the air temperature of the refrigerated equipment as an SOP. How often you need to monitor the air temperature depends on: • whether the air temperature of the refrigerator accurately reflects the internal product temperature, • the capacity and use of your refrigeration equipment, • the volume and type of food products stored in your cold storage units, • the SOPs that support monitoring this process, and • shift changes and other operational considerations. Standard Operating Procedures to Implement Food Safety Standard operating procedures can be developed to control some hazards and assist in implementing a food safety system that minimises the potential for bacterial growth and contamination. The control of cross contamination can be done by separating raw foods from ready-to-eat products within your operation’s refrigeration and storage facilities. Special consideration should be given to the storage of scombroid fish due to the potential formation of histamine, a chemical hazard.
Food Preparation Of all the operational steps in food processes, preparation has the greatest variety of activities that must be controlled, monitored, and in some cases documented. It is impossible to include in this model a summary guide that covers the diversity in menus, employee skills, and facility design that impact the preparation of food. The preparation step may involve several processes, including thawing a frozen food, mixing together several ingredients, cutting, chopping, slicing, or breading. At the preparation step, SOPs can be developed to control some hazards and assist in implementation of a food safety system that minimises the potential for bacterial growth and contamination from employees and equipment. Front-line employees will most likely have the greatest need to work with the food. A well designed personal hygiene program that has been communicated to all employees will minimise the potential for bacterial, parasitic, and viral contamination. Your program must include instructions to your employees as to when and how to wash their hands.
Procedures need to be in place that either eliminate employees’ hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, or implement an alternative personal hygiene program that provides an equivalent level of control of bacterial, parasitic, and viral hazards. It is also very important to identify and restrict ill employees from working with food, especially if they have diarrhea. Procedures must be in place to prevent cross contamination from utensils and equipment. Designated areas or procedures that separate the preparation of raw foods from ready-to-eat foods minimise the potential for bacterial contamination. Proper cleaning and sanitising of equipment and work surfaces are an integral SOP to this operational step. Batch preparation is an important tool for controlling bacterial growth because limiting the amount of food prepared minimises the time the food is kept at a temperature that allows growth. Planning your preparation ahead assists in minimising the time food must be out of temperature at this operational step. Batch preparation also breaks the growth cycle of bacteria before they can reach dangerous levels. When thawing frozen foods, maintaining proper product temperature and managing time are the primary controls for minimising bacterial growth. Procedures need to be in place to minimise the potential for microbial, chemical, and physical contamination during thawing. Use of prechilled ingredients to prepare a cold product, such as tuna salad, will assist you in maintaining temperature control for this process. Special consideration should be given to disallowing bare hand contact in the preparation of readyto-eat foods. You need to control the introduction of hazards during preparation. Effective Cooking Cooking foods of animal origin is the most effective operational step in food processes for reducing and eliminating biological contamination. Hot temperatures will kill most harmful bacteria and with relatively few exceptions, such as cooking plant foods. It is at this step that food will be made safe to eat. Therefore, product temperature and time measurements are very important. If the appropriate product temperature for the required amount of time is not achieved, bacteria, parasites, or viruses may survive in the food.
Critical time and temperature limits vary according to the type of food. Employees should view ensuring proper cooking temperatures as an essential element in producing an acceptable product. A final cooking time and temperature chart for specific foods is included for your review. Simply reference the foods specific to your food establishment and incorporate the appropriate critical time and temperature limits into your management system. You will need to determine the best system for you to use that will ensure that the proper cooking temperature and time are reached. Checking the internal product temperature is the most desirable monitoring method. However, when large volumes of food are cooked, a temperature check of each individual item may not be practical. For instance, a quick service food service operation may cook several hundred hamburgers during lunch. If checking the temperature of each hamburger is not reasonable for you to do, then you need to routinely verify that the specific process and cooking equipment are capable of attaining a final internal product temperature at all locations in or on the cooking equipment. Once a specific process has been shown to work for you, the frequency of record keeping may be reduced. In these instances, a record keeping system should be established to provide scheduled product temperature checks to ensure that the process is working. Special consideration should be given to time and temperature in the cooking of fish and other raw animal foods. Cooling of Food Materials One of the most labor intensive operational steps is rapidly cooling hot foods to control microbial growth. Excessive time for the cooling of potentially hazardous foods has been consistently identified as one of the factors contributing to foodborne illness. Foods that have been cooked and held at improper temperatures provide an excellent environment for the growth of disease causing microorganisms that may have survived the cooking process.
Recontamination of a cooked food item by poor employee practices or cross contamination from other food products, utensils and equipment is a concern at this operational step. Special consideration should be given to large food items, such as roasts, turkeys, thick soups, stews, chili, and large containers of rice or refried beans. These foods take a long time to cool because of their mass and volume. If the hot food container is tightly covered, the cooling rate will be further slowed down. By reducing the volume of the food in an individual container and leaving an opening for heat to escape by keeping the cover loose, the rate of cooling is dramatically increased. Commercial refrigeration equipment is designed to hold cold food temperatures, not cool large masses of food. Some alternatives for cooling foods include: • Using rapid chill refrigeration equipment designed to cool the food to acceptable temperatures quickly by using increased compressor capacity and high rates of air circulation; • Avoiding the need to cool large masses by preparing smaller batches closer to periods of service; • Stirring hot food while the food container is within an ice water bath; or • Redesigning your recipe so that you prepare and cook a smaller or concentrated base and then add enough cold water or ice to make up the volume that you need. This may work for some water-based soups, for example. Reheating of Food Stuffs If food is held at improper temperatures for enough time, pathogens have the opportunity to multiply to dangerous numbers. Proper reheating provides an important control for eliminating these organisms. It is especially effective in reducing contamination from bacterial spore-formers which survived the cooking process and may have multiplied because foods were held at improper temperatures. Although proper reheating will kill most organisms of concern, it will not eliminate toxins, such as that produced by Staphylococcus aureus. If microbial controls and SOPs at previous operational steps have not been followed correctly and Staph toxin has been formed in the food, reheating will not make the food safe. Incorporating a comprehensive personal hygiene program throughout the process will minimise the risk from Staph toxin. Along with personal hygiene, preventing cross contamination through the use of cleaned and sanitised equipment and utensils is an important control measure. Special consideration should be given to the time and temperature in the reheating of cooked foods. Holding of Food There are three processes may involve holding. Proper temperature of the food while being held is essential in controlling the growth of harmful bacteria. Cold temperature holding may occur in Processes 1, 2, or 3. When food is held, cooled, and reheated in a food establishment there is an increased risk from contamination caused by personnel, equipment, procedures, or other factors. Harmful bacteria that are introduced into a product that is not held at proper temperature have the opportunity to multiply to large numbers in a short period of time. Once again management of personal hygiene and the prevention of cross contamination impact the safety of the food at this operational step. Keeping food products at 140°F or above during hot holding and keeping food products at or below 41°F is effective in preventing microbial growth. As an alternative to temperature control, the Food Code details actions when time alone is used as a control, including a comprehensive monitoring and food marking system to ensure food safety. Monitoring frequency may mean the difference between reheating the food to 165°F or discarding it. When determining the monitoring frequency of cold product temperatures, it is important to make sure that the interval between temperature checks is established to ensure that the hazard is being controlled and time is allowed for an appropriate corrective action. For example, If you are holding potentially hazardous ready-to-eat foods under refrigeration, such as potato salad at a salad bar, you may decide to set a critical limit at 41° F or below. You may also want to set a target, or operating limit, of 40° F for example, in order to provide a safety cushion that allows you the opportunity to see a trend toward exceeding 41°F and to intervene with appropriate corrective actions. Special consideration should be given to the time and temperature in the hot or cold holding of potentially hazardous foods to control pathogens. Packing Set up and packing is an operational step used by some retail food establishments including caterers (e.g., restaurant/caterer or interstate conveyance caterer), commissaries, grocery stores (for display cases),
schools, nursing homes, hospitals, or services such as delivery of meals to home-bound persons. Set up and packing can be controlled through an SOP and may involve wrapping food items, assembling these items onto trays, and packing them into a transportation carrier or placing them in a display case. An example would be an airline flight kitchen where food entrees are wrapped, assembled, and placed into portable food carts which are taken to a final holding cooler. Hospital kitchens would be another example where patient trays are assembled and placed into carriers for transportation to nursing stations. Food may be placed into bulk containers for transportation to another site where it is served. This operational step might not be considered a CCP, but it is a special consideration when setting up your program. This process can be controlled by strict adherence to SOPs to minimise the potential for bacterial contamination and growth, to eliminate bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, to ensure proper handwashing, and to ensure food comes into contact with cleaned and sanitised surfaces. Following final assembly into either individual trays or into bulk containers, the food may be held for immediate service or for transportation to another site for service. This hot holding or cold holding operational step needs to be evaluated in the same manner as other holding operational steps on the worksheet. Temperature control or using time as a control measure during transportation, and holding and serving at a remote site must be evaluated and managed as part of your food safety system. Food Serving This is the final operational step before the food reaches the customer. When employees work with food and food-contact surfaces, they can easily spread bacteria, parasites, and viruses and contaminate these items. Managing employees’ personal hygienic practices is important to controlling these hazards. A management program for employee personal hygiene includes proper handwashing, the appropriate use of gloves and dispensing utensils, and controlling bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. Minimising the growth of bacteria is also a concern at hot and cold holding customer display areas. Maintaining food products at proper temperature within these display units will control the growth of microorganisms. Special consideration needs to be given to minimising contamination from the customer. Customer selfservice displays, such as salad bars, require specific procedures to protect the food from contamination. Some suggestions for protecting food on display include: • The use of packaging, • Counter, service line, or salad bar food guards, • Display cases, • Suitable utensils or effective dispensing methods, • Not mixing an old product with fresh, and • Having employees monitor self-serve stations. Preventing cross contamination from soiled utensils and equipment will minimise the potential for bacterial contamination of ready-to-eat foods. Monitoring is observing or measuring specific operational steps in the food process to determine if your critical limits are being met. This activity is essential in making sure your critical food processes are under control. It will identify where a loss of control occurs or if there is a trend toward a loss of control of a critical food process.
Individuals chosen to be responsible for a monitoring activity may be a manager, line-supervisor, or a designated employee. Your monitoring system will only be effective if employees are given the knowledge, skills, and responsibility for serving safe food. Once your food safety system is implemented, you will need to confirm that it is effective over time. You may benefit from both internal (quality control) verifications and external verifications that may involve assistance from the regulatory authority or consultants. Food Code Interventions Major interventions in the Food Code are demonstration of knowledge by the person-in-charge, employee health, no bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food, time and temperature control, and the use of a consumer advisory regarding the consumption of raw or undercooked animal foods. These interventions need to be addressed within the overall food safety program which may entail inclusion in SOPs. Many provisions of the Food Code address the design of food establishments and equipment as well as acceptable operational practices. Adherence to design criteria and development of SOPs affect the food preparation environment. SOPs specify practices to address general hygiene and measures to prevent food from becoming contaminated due to various aspects of the food environment. SOPs specific to your operation describe the activities necessary to complete tasks that accomplish compliance with the Food Code, are documented as a written reference, and are used to train the staff who are responsible for the tasks. Three purposes for establishing SOPs for your operation are to protect your products from contamination from microbial, chemical, and physical hazards; to control microbial growth that can result from temperature abuse; and to ensure procedures are in place for maintaining equipment. SOP procedures ensure that: • product is purchased from approved suppliers/ sources, • the water in contact with food and food-contact surfaces and used in the manufacture of ice is potable, • food-contact surfaces, including utensils are cleaned, sanitised, and maintained in good condition, • uncleaned and nonsanitised surfaces of equipment and utensils do not contact raw or cooked ready-to-eat food, • raw animal foods do not contaminate raw or cooked ready-to-eat food,
• •
toilet facilities are accessible and maintained, handwashing facilities are located in food preparation, food dispensing, warewashing areas, and immediately adjacent to toilet rooms and are equipped with hand cleaning preparations and single-service towels or acceptable hand drying devices, • an effective pest control system is in place, • toxic compounds are properly labeled, stored, and safely used, • contaminants such as condensate, lubricants, pesticides, cleaning compounds, sanitising agents, and additional toxic materials do not contact food, food packaging material, and food-contact surfaces, and • food, food packaging materials, and food-contact surfaces do not come in contact with, and are not contaminated by physical hazards such as broken glass from light fixtures, jewelry, etc. Procedures must be in place to ensure that proper personnel health and hygienic practices are implemented including: • restricting or excluding workers with certain symptoms such as, vomiting or diarrhea, • practicing effective handwashing, • restricting eating, smoking, and drinking in food preparation areas, • using hair restraints, • wearing clean clothing, and • restricting the wearing of jewelry. Food safety, for our purposes, will refer to the handling of food and food contact items in a manner that reduces the risk of a foodborne illness outbreak. Food safety buzz is everywhere. It is a regular story for local news programs throughout the country. Equal attention is being given to the topic by foodservice equipment and supplies manufacturers, as they are eager to develop tools to assist with the implementation of safe food handling practices. Likewise, local health department inspectors and industry associations who promote food safety education are making sure that the topic’s importance is clearly conveyed. The intentions of all parties involved in the promotion of food safety are genuine. Implementation of safe food handling practices to this point, however, has been confusing and discouraging. The enforcement of food safety related requirements has been inconsistent. In addition, new food safety related requirements are rarely communicated clearly and expectations are rarely addressed with end users. Foodborne Illness Prevention More than 250 diseases can be caused by contaminated food or drink. Most are caused by bacteria such as Salmonella or Campylobacter. These bacteria most commonly are found in raw or undercooked foods of animal origin such as meat, milk, eggs, fish or shellfish. Most foodborne disease can be prevented by thinking twice - and following some simple food handling rules. This applies to people cooking at home and food service workers. Consequences of foodborne illness range from mild stomach upset to flu-like symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, to severe symptoms such as kidney failure or death. Handwashing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection. Hand-transmission is a critical factor in the spread of bacteria, pathogens, and viruses that cause foodborne illness. In many cases, restaurant outbreaks have been traced to a single employee who failed to wash. “Parents can help prevent foodborne illness at home by washing their hands before and after they prepare food, and especially after handling raw meats, poultry or seafood, to prevent Ci’oss-contamination with other foods. Cutting boards, knives and utensils must be kept clean and washed between uses. Foodborne illnesses related to food workers failing to wash their hands, or lack of properly working sinks, towels or soap, was a factor in 32 percent of the outbreaks. Cross contamination was a factor in 28 percent of outbreaks and ill or infected workers were identified in 13 percent. Proper handling, cooking, storing, and serving of food can also prevent foodborne illness and contamination of the food, and keep naturally-occurring bacteria from multiplying. A basic rule is “keep hot food hot and cold food cold.”
Food Safety Enforcement
As is evident from the earliest recorded statistics food poisoning has been rising. The rise of food poisoning for the years 1987 to 1997 (CDR) and the forecast for 1998 is that the rise is going to continue. There has been a conscientious effort since the Food Safety Act 1990 to try to reduce the levels of food poisoning. The introduction of HACCP-type (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) (HCIMA) hygiene management systems into the hospitality industry and the formation of the Food Standards Agency (James, 1998) are examples of this effort. The hospitality industry is responsible for 44 per cent of reported outbreaks (Anon, 1997a) and therefore is going to be a major player in any initiatives designed to reverse the trend. The most important initiative in recent times has been to improve the relationship between the hospitality industry and the environmental health officers. The major change has been to cast the role of the officers in a more “educational” vein rather than a pure “enforcement” role. This has been particularly noticeable in meeting the requirements of the recent Food Hygiene Regulations 1995 in respect of implementation of HACCP-type systems. In the past the relationship between the two participants has not always been convivial as is easily demonstrated in the book The Mad Officials (Booker and North, 1994) where environmental health officers were described as over-zealous bureaucrats. However, the statistics showing a reduction in the number of
premises closed and improvement notices served despite the rise in food poisoning and total inspections indicates that this very important relationship has undergone change over the last few years. Structured interviews were carried out with a senior environmental health officer, a representative from the Department of Health and members of the hospitality industry. From these interviews a questionnaire was designed on a sectional basis.
The questionnaires were distributed to 20 environmental health officers and 21 hospitality managers. The participants were asked to rate their responses on a scale of 1 = agree strongly, 2 = agree moderately, 3 = neither agree nor disagree, 4 = disagree moderately and 5 = disagree strongly. A two-tail “t” test (Kvanli, 1989) was carried out to identify any significant difference in responses between the two groups at a level p = 0.05.
Discussion About 50 per cent disagreement between the two parties The hospitality industry disagrees significantly with the statements that the environmental health officers: • seek to educate; • apply the legislation consistently; • give clear explanations and advice: and • appreciate operational difficulties. Whereas, environmental health officers disagree significantly with the statement that the hospitality industry: • knows the powers that they posses. A 25 per cent disagreement between the two parties. The hospitality industry disagrees significantly with the statement that: • it receives advice for easy implementation of new legislation. Whereas, environmental health officers disagree significantly with the statements that the hospitality industry: • has a clear knowledge of current food safety legislation; • is able to understand and to put into practice new legislation. The largest (90 per cent) disagreement between the two parties. The hospitality industry disagrees significantly with the statement that: • food hygiene legislation makes it clear on the training requirements. Whereas, the environmental health officers disagree significantly with the statements that the hospitality industry: • understands the meaning of sale, due diligence and the principles of a Hazard Analysis system: • understands the requirements of the Food Safety Regulations 1995; • understands the meaning of customer protection and how to produce safe food. The least (less than 10 per cent) disagreement between the two parties. The environmental health officers disagree significantly with the statement that the hospitality industry: • supports the licensing of food premises. In conclusion, out of the 44 questions, 20 showed a significant difference in response (45 per cent). It is clear, therefore, that if changes in food safety are going to be achieved then closer collaboration between these two parties is essential. How this is going to be achieved has yet to be resolved.
Preparation of Healthy Food The World Health Organisation estimates that 300 million people in the world are clinically obese. In the United States, obesity could soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death. Fueled by the success of the Atkins and other related low-carb diets, millions of people are now restricting their intake of carbohydrates. As a result, the food industry is rapidly reformulating its products to better address the needs of consumers desiring foods and beverages with fewer carbohydrates. Although low-carb foods may not be the ultimate answer to weight management, it is possible that this sudden change in consumer behavior could be symptomatic of a far greater unmet need for foods that not only taste good but also positively contribute to one’s health and well-being.
The food and beverage industry is facing a critical time in its evolution. On the one hand, scientific developments are identifying increasing numbers of active components in foods and beverages which provide health and functional benefits such as impeding cancer cell growth, improving immune response, and protecting against bacteria and viruses. On the other hand, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Western diet is leading to serious health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Concurrent with the increased visibility of these issues, advances in the understanding of the science of taste are allowing new approaches to address them. These new approaches involve the application of biotechnology to characterise taste and identify novel taste modifiers. The molecular era of taste science was initiated by the discovery in the early 1990s of gustducin, the protein inside the taste cell that interacts with taste receptors, leading to taste cell activation. The identification of this protein, and subsequently other taste cell components, at the molecular level has led to
a step change in the way taste can be studied and taste problems addressed. Now it is possible to use the powerful techniques of biotechnology to search for novel taste modifiers that would quite possibly never be discovered using traditional approaches. Understanding how taste works at the molecular level allows for the development of tests, or assays, that monitor taste effectively in a test tube. Using the same techniques as the biopharmaceutical industry, this process can be automated to enable hundreds to thousands of samples to be screened per day to identify compounds that modulate taste. There are currently five recognised taste modalities: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. It is recognition of these various tastes that enables humans and animals to discern important information about the quality of food. Sweet, salty, and umami tastes typically are associated with foods that contain nutrients important for well-being. Sweet-tasting foods are typically high in carbohydrates, salty food contains important minerals, and umami taste is coupled to the presence of amino acids. Sour and bitter taste perception is characteristically a protective mechanism against ingesting substances that may be deleterious to the body, such as spoiled food or poisons. Taste perception occurs in specialised structures called taste buds. These are groups of elongated taste receptor cells that respond to the presence of a tastant in the mouth by generating nerve responses that relay this information to the brain. The function of taste receptor cells is to transduce the physical binding of tastants at the apical surface of the cell (exposed to the buccal cavity) into release of neurotransmitter at the baso-lateral surface of the cell (exposed to the peripheral nervous system), resulting in a nerve impulse. Sweet, bitter, and umami tastants bind to specialised receptor proteins in the cell membrane. These receptors traverse the membrane and interact within the cell with specialised transduction proteins called G proteins. Hence, the receptor proteins are known as G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Binding of tastant to receptors leads to activation of the G protein, which in turn activates enzymes within the cell known as effector enzymes. It is the job of these effector enzymes to modulate the internal concentration of molecules known as second messengers. Changes in the level of second messengers within a taste cell leads to opening of various ion channels both within the cell and on the cell surface, which results in a depolarisation of the cell as ion gradients maintained by the cell in its resting state are depleted. This depolarisation of the cell results in release of neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft between the taste receptor cell and its neighboring neuron. These neurotransmitters depolarise the neuron and begin the electrical signal that is transmitted to the higher levels of the central nervous system to be interpreted as taste. Sweet taste is transduced by two receptors, known as T1R2 and T1R3, that work together as a sweet detector. Recent evidence using transgenic knockout mice lacking one of these receptors shows that with nutritive sweeteners this is not the whole story, which may account for the differences in taste between nutritive sweeteners and their nonnutritive brethren. The etiological importance of the detection of poisons has led to the detection of bittertaste stimuli being transduced by at least 25 GPCRs known as the T2Rs. Having many proteins involved in this process allows for the structural diversity necessary to interact with the many and varied types of bitter tastants and for protection against catastrophic mutations which if few receptors were involved would most likely lead to death of the organism from poisoning, if one of the receptors was nonfunctional. There is some controversy over the identity of the umami receptor. A GPCR called mGluR4 has been hypothesised as an umami receptor. There is uncertainty over the identity of the salt receptor, with the relative contributions of different ion channels being a matter of conjecture; however, the effect of sodium ion entry is taste cell depolarisation and neurotransmitter release. Sour-taste detection appears to be even more complex, with a number of pathways possibly involved. Hydrogen ions in acids enter taste cells through proton channels and also interact with a variety of channels, such as potassium, sodium, calcium, and chloride channels. The overall effect is a depolarisation of the taste cell and the generation of a nerve impulse. A variety of assay techniques familiar to the world of biotechnology are used in this new approach to taste modification. Recombinant DNA technology allows for the building of taste sensors-in-vitro biochemical assays and invivo behavioral assays-that allow quantitative monitoring of tastes. The further characterisation of the receptors involved in taste will allow for additional advances in taste technology. With the structural elucidation of receptors, it will be possible in the coming years to screen for taste modifiers using computers that model the binding of receptors and tastants entirely using algorithms. This insilico approach will lead to designer taste modifiers that can be physically produced once their functionality has been determined by computer.As people look to consume healthier and morefunctional foods and beverages, the industry is faced with a significant problem. Many of the compounds in foods that provide health benefits, such as polyphenols in soy and chocolate and phyto-nutrients in
nutritional products and functional foods, are bitter. The same is true for functional ingredients such as hydrolysed proteins used as stabilisers and texturants in nutritional products. One way of overcoming the bitterness of foods containing these bitter compounds is to remove the offensive-tasting compound from the final product. However, this approach nullifies the benefit provided by the compound. Another approach is to mask the offending taste. One method is to physically prevent the bitter tastant from interacting with the taste-receptor cells of the tongue. In the pharmaceutical industry, this is done by encapsulating or microencap-sularing bittertasting drugs in a pill; this approach is also used in the food industry. The other method of bitter-taste masking is to confound the taste centers of the brain by stimulating competing tastes such as sweet and salty. However, over-powering the higher brain functions that decipher the nerve signals coming from the taste buds with vast amounts of competing taste signals-the “spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” approach-results in large quantities of salt and sugar being used in food and beverage products, which is perceived to be exacerbating the problems of hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. In the new molecular era of taste, there is a third option. By identifying compounds that interfere with the transduction mechanism of bitter taste in taste-receptor cells, it is now possible to prevent the taste cells from ever being activated and generating a nerve impulse. In this way, the brain never even knows that a bitter compound is present in the mouth. Using this approach, the food industry can have the health-promoting and functional compounds present in food at normal or even increased levels and prevent the consumer from sensing the off-taste produced without the addition of too much salt or sugar. Biotechnology is being used to address the issue of high sodium levels in foods and beverages by identifying sodium chloride substitutes or by improving the taste of the current alternatives. In 2003, Linguagen received patent protection and regulatory approval for a bitter blocker, adenosine 5'monophosphate (AMP), identified using biochemical assays. AMP works by blocking the activation of gustducin in taste receptor cells and thereby preventing taste nerve stimulation. AMP is being assessed by a number of food and beverage companies and has been shown to decrease bitter taste in a number of applications, including grapefruit juice, beer, and diet carbonated soft drinks. This bitter blocker improves the taste of potassium chloride in food applications where it is used to replace sodium chloride. In so doing, Linguagen became the first company to successfully bring to market a taste modifier discovered using an indepth understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of taste. This bitter blocker is only the first of what will in the coming years become a stream of products which owe their existence to the convergence of food technology and biotechnology. By using biotechnological methods, combined with a deeper understanding of how taste works at the molecular level, noncaloric sweeteners will finally be identified that have properties indistinguishable from nutritive sweeteners such as sucrose and fructose. Even more intriguing is the idea of identifying sweetness potentiators. These are compounds that, while being bland-tasting themselves, enhance the sweetness of nutritive sweeteners. Using a sweetness potentiator would, for example, allow a carbonated soft drink manufacturer to use 2% high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in its product and achieve the same satisfying sweet taste as using 10% HFCS. Potentiation of receptors similar to those responsible for sweet taste is well known. Sweet-taste receptors belong to the GPCR class of receptors, which also includes muscarinic and nicotinic receptors that have been shown to have allosteric activators. These are compounds that don’t interact with the receptor’s ligand-binding site directly but bind to another site on the receptor protein, leading to a change in affinity of the receptor for its ligand. More pertinently, umami taste, which is signaled by GPCRs very similar to the sweet-taste receptors, undergoes potentiation of glutamate taste in the presence of inositol 5'-monophosphate and guanosine 5'-monophosphate. Thus, it is expected that biochemical screening of compound libraries will identify sweetness potentiators. In the coming years, biotechnology will play an increasingly prominent role in the development of new flavor ingredients. Enzymes Technology for Food Preperation Enzymes safely and effectively enable food technologists to selectively modify carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids in complex food systems to create foods that taste good, improve health, and are safe to consume. For example, if one wants to selectively modify a specific protein within a complex food system containing other proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, an enzyme that breaks a specific amino acid bond may prove to be more effective than a process such as heating or the addition of a chemical oxidant that might affect all the food substrates in various and often uncontrolled ways. In addition, enzymes, being biological proteins with a safe history of use, are usually regarded as label friendly processing aids in foods and beverages, in comparison to many chemical additives. Today, as food and beverage processors design new
products that will satisfy the growing consumer need for healthy and safe foods and beverages, enzymes are often proving to be the preferred means with which food processors can achieve their objectives.
Starch Modification Modern enzyme technology involving the use of exogenous enzymes was initially adopted for the hydrolysis of starch. Exogenous enzymes are tightly integrated into processes for starch hydrolysis and associated products (maltodextrins, glucose syrups, very-high-maltose syrups and high-fructose syrups). The routes to produce these materials and the enzymes employed are well established. Much of the progress in using enzymes in food processes or in the manufacture of food ingredients has been evolutionary, involving improvements in catalytic activities, the ability to deal with a wider range of raw materials, wider variations in processing conditions, pH, and temperatures, and reduction in the cost of enzymes. Many of these improvements have been brought about by the introduction and use of enzymes from genetically modified microorganisms (GMOs). In addition, there have been new developments that involve new enzyme activities and new applications for enzyme activities. Many of the recent and on-going
developments for use of enzymes in starch hydrolysis are associated with improvements in enzyme activities (α-amylases, glucoamylases, and debranching enzymes) and improvements in enzymatic hydrolysis of non-corn cereals such as wheat and barley.
Starch found in potatoes
Employing enzymes has also made the use of traditional products for new purposes possible. For example, maltose syrups, traditionally produced for brewing applications, are now used for the production of maltitol, which can replace sugar one-for-one, with a relative sweetness of 90%. In most traditional recipes, such as cereals, milk products, dry mixes, tablets, snacks, and marzipan, maltitol can now be substituted for sucrose. The introduction of the enzyme inulinase has allowed the use of fructan root crops for the production of fructans and fructose, which can serve as dietary fibers and low-calorie sweeteners. The use of cyclodextrins as food additives with applications as carriers and stabilizers of flavors, colors, and some vitamins is possible as a result of cyclodextrin glycosyltranoferase, a starch-degrading enzyme that converts starch into a mixture of cyclic malto-oligosaccharides. Because they have a hydrophilic outside and a hydrophobic cavity that enables them to form specific inclusion complexes with small hydrophobic molecules, cyclodextrin complexes may have increased thermal and oxidative stability and may be used to reduce irritative side effects and mask tastes and odors. Within the brewing industry, increases in demand for pro-cess efficiency, solutions to process difficulties, consistency of a particular product, and brewing with adjuncts (the inclusion of carbohydrate sources other than malted barley) have resulted in the use of exogenous enzymes. Consequently, αamylase, β-amylase, glucoamylase, β-glucanase and proteinase activities are used in brewing. Developments in the brewing process and the requirement for the product to meet changing consumer expectations are being met by new uses of enzymes. Most recently, interest has been shown in developing beers in which the wort fermentability has been adjusted or controlled. The production of reducedfermentable beers that contain low or no alcohol is being achieved by using a combination of highly specific thermostable enzymes that can ensure adequate starch release and breakdown and, at the same time, reduce wort viscosity, resulting in a higher than normal level of unfermentable oligosaccharides. Production of super-attenuated lite beers containing very low carbohydrate content but still having 5% abv (alcohol by volume) can be achieved with the use of enzymes such as glucoamylase and other debranching enzymes (e.g., pullulanase). Conventional worts contain nonfermentable dextrins, as malt enzymes cannot hydrolyze all the (l→6) bonds in the amylopectin during mashing. Glucoamylase increases the fermentability of the wort by hydrolysing the (l→4) and, more slowly, (1→6) bonds in the dextrins, and pullulanase specifically hydrolyses the (l→6) bonds. Wort fermentability can also be increased by the addition of glucose syrups. The benefits of producing beer with substantial levels of nondigestible soluble dietary fiber that can be used by the microflora in the lower intestine have also been recognised. Soluble dietary fiber in the form of isomalto-oligosaccharides (and fructo-oligosaccharides), having a degree of polymerisation of 4 or more, can be produced in the brewing process by the action of Dglucosyltransferase. High-gravity worts that have a higher ratio of maltose and maltotriose to glucose favor the formation of isomalto-oligosaccharides. The same effect can also be achieved by the direct addition of isomalto-oligosaccharide syrup to the fermenter. An important objective in the juice industry is to process materials at a low cost while maintaining or improving the organoleptic properties and stability of the finished product. Exogenous enzymes allow efficient extraction of components and are used to degrade the cell wall of fruits for pulp maceration, liquefaction, and juice depectinisation. A wide range of pectinolytic activities, hemicellulases, and cellulases involved in commercial applications have been reviewed by Grassin and Fauquembergue. In addition, acid α-amylases are used for hydrolysis of fruits containing starch. One of the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption is the ingestion of flavonoid glycosides (glycosides of polyphenols). A high intake of these has been linked to a variety of health benefits, including beneficial action on gut microflora, antimicrobial action (e.g., inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes), a lower incidence of colon cancer (and possibly other cancers), and decreased cardiovascular disease. During enzymatic treatment of fruits and vegetables, one of the challenges for the food technologist is to optimise the bioavailability of these materials in their most effective form. Profen Modification Traditionally, proteolytic enzymes have been used to modify food proteins to improve their flavor, texture, functionality, and nutritional quality. Examples include the use of exopeptidases to reduce bitterness in enzyme-modified cheese and bacterial proteases to restore emulsification properties to heatdenatured soy proteins. More recently, proteolytic enzymes are being used to improve the health and safety aspects of food proteins. Proteases are providing food technologists tools to improve the palatability of reformulated low-carb/high-protein foods. Enzyme-modified proteins replace fats and carbohydrates by providing texture, viscosity, mouthfeel, flavor (es-pecially sweetness), and brothy notes. Proteins with
altered fatand water-binding properties have enhanced the ability to replace fats and carbohydrates in food products. Moreover, they can contribute to the healthfulness of foods.
Two classic examples are Simplesse, a microparti-culated whey protein product from CP Kelco, and Dairy-Lo, a thermally denatured whey protein product from Cultor Food Science. Both these products have achieved a level of market acceptance as fat replacers in dairy foods, salad dressings, sauces, and other foods. Proteases are also used to produce bioactive peptides with various functionalities, reduce allergenicity of food proteins, and protect food quality. The human body produces a wide array of bioactive peptides which function as biological messengers, simulating or suppressing a wide range of physiological responses. Evidence now suggests that specific peptides derived from food proteins also act as messengers and play a significant role in maintaining health and preventing disease. These bioactive peptides can be produced in vitro by enzymatic hydrolysis of food proteins such as casein, eggs, wheat gluten, soy, and whey proteins. At least 40 different food-derived peptides have been shown to produce an anti-hypertensive effect. These peptides, ranging from 2 to 30 amino acids, inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and can be produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of whey proteins and casein. An example of a commercial product containing whey-derived ACE-inhibitory peptides is BioZate 1 produced by Davisco Foods International. Calpis in Japan and Evolus in Finland, among others, also produce products with ACEinhibitory claims.
Food-derived bioactive peptides have also been shown to contribute to weight management. A specific casein peptide, glycomacropeptide (GMP), plays a significant role in appetite suppression and is produced by the hydrolytic action of chymosin or other proteases on casein. It stimulates the production of cholecystokinin, an intestinal hormone, which induces the sensation of satiety. Aria Foods and Nutricepts are companies that promote GMP-enriched whey products. Similar beneficial weight management effects have been demonstrated with peptides derived from proteolytic hydrolysis of soy protein isolates. Many protein-rich foods such as fish, seafood, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, and milk proteins can trigger allergic reactions in susceptible individuals. Specific amino acid sequences (epitopes) present in the food proteins interact with cells of the immune system to trigger an allergic response. Hydrolysis with proteolytic enzymes, physical removal, chemical modification, and heat denaturation are some of the potential strategies used for elimination of allergenic epitopes. Treatment of chickpea protein isolates with a combination of endo- and exopeptidases has been shown to result in a significant reduction in allergenicity without any effect on nutritional quality. In addition, a combination of thermal treatment and proteolytic hydrolysis was shown to significantly decrease the allergenicity of bovine _-lactoglobulin. Enzymes and various antimicrobial peptides have also been effectively used to reduce pathogens in foods and to extend the shelf life of many perishable foods. The antimicrobial peptide nisin has been used to prevent the growth of botulinum spores in processed cheese and, more recently, in combination with the enzyme lysozyme, has demonstrated efficacy in killing L. monocytogenes on the surface of cooked meat products such as hot dogs. While chemical antioxidants have a long history of use in food systems, they are perceived as chemical additives by consumers, and their use has raised health concerns. Enzymes offer an alternative approach to food protection. Glucose oxidase and catalase function as a very powerful oxygenscavenging system in packaged foods and beverages. When sufficient glucose levels are present, glucose oxidase and catalase remove 100% of the available oxygen from an enclosed system, thereby preventing the flavor and color defects associated with oxidation and spoilage resulting from mold growth. Glucose oxidase can also be used as a glucose scavenger in food products. For example, it is used to desugar egg whites prior to drying, preventing the undesirable Maillard browning during the drying process. Recently, enzymes have also found an application in reducing the infectivity of prions associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and other related disorders such as variant Creutzfelt-Jacob disease (vCJD). These relatively new additions to the list of foodborne illnesses are caused by a particle known as a prion (proteinaceous infectious particle), an incorrectly folded version of a neural cellular protein. There is no known cure for BSE, and the BSE prion has proven resistant to chemical and thermal treatment and hydrolysis by most proteolytic enzymes. In collaboration with the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency, Genencor International has demonstrated thev efficacy of a proprietary thermostable, protein-engineered endopep-tidase for significantly decreasing the infectivity of the BSE prion in contaminated bone meal. In addition to medical applications, this work has numerous potential applications in the meat processing industry. Lipid Modification Lipids and phospholipids are found in every living tissue, particularly in cell membranes. Thus, it is not surprising that these fats are a critical part of human nutrition and health and a factor in the formulation of many foods. Enzyme technology is helping to increase the functionality and healthfulness of these basic raw materials. Growing evidence has suggested that dietary choline and lecithin positively affect human health in various ways. Lecithin, a fatty substance manufactured in the body and widely found in many animal- and plant-based foods, including eggs, liver, peanuts, soybeans, and wheat germ, is considered an excellent source of choline. Phospholipases (such as PLA 1, 2, C, and D), enzymes that normally breakdown ingested lipids in our digestive tracts, are currently used as aids in food processing to extract phospholipids from lecithin-rich foods. In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration affirmed that lysolecithin prepared by the action of PLA2 on lecithin was generally regarded as safe (GRAS) for use as a direct food ingredient.
The food industry has long recognised the importance of lecithin as a critical component in food processing. Lecithin helps smooth the texture of food items such as chocolate and margarine and makes instant foods, such as infant formulas, easy to dissolve. Enzymes are also being used to modify fats to reduce their calorie content. Kao Corp. has developed a healthier fat composition for converting the triglycerides in common oil into diacylglycerides (DAGs), employing enzyme technology. DAGs have been shown to reduce arteriosclerotic factors in blood, as well as inhibit various degenerative diseases, an effect thought to occur because DAGs are metabolised differently than triglycerides, causing them to be burned quickly as energy instead of contributing to the deposition of adipose tissue. However, DAGs perform the same as conventional fats in cooking and frying, baking, salad dressings, and dairy-based products. The DAG production process relies on an enzyme called 1,3-specific lipase to catalyse the customised addition of fatty acids to a glycerol backbone. The enzyme may be immobilised using technologies known to the enzyme industry, offering the advantage of repeated enzyme use. The flight away from trans fats is fueling interest in alternatives, and once again enzymes are playing a role in their development. Catalytic hydrogenation of unsaturated vegetable oils increases their degree of saturation, giving them properties resembling animal fats. The chemical catalyst typically used is not specific; and if the hydrogenation is not complete, this will result in formation of unnatural trans double bonds in addition to natural czs-configured bonds. The amazing specificity of enzymes can replace this random catalysis with
the specific formation of only cis bonds, thereby reducing the formation of the trans bonds. Another enzymatic approach, one more likely to enjoy commercial acceptance, is the use of lipases to catalyse interesterification. This catalytic method of redistributing the fatty acids on the glycerol portion is another way to increase functionality of oils without negatively affecting healthfulness. Unsaturated fatty acids attached to a triglyceride in a vegetable oil could be replaced with fully hydrogenated, saturated fatty acids prepared by conventional hydrogenation. This would allow building a custom-made triglyceride with the desired degree of saturation but no trans fat. These processes could also benefit from using immobilised lipases. Enzymes have been used safely in a wide variety of foods for centuries. The biodiversity of enzymes is providing the food industry with a wide range of functionalities. As biotechnology paves the way for making improvements to known enzyme functions as well as opening the door for designing new enzymes with added functionalities, the GMO issue may continue to be one of controversy for the foreseeable future. The food industry has already benefited from several enzymes that are produced using genetically modified production hosts to reduce the cost or enhance the functionality of the enzyme. Ozone Modification Ozone is approved as a sanitizer for contact with food and food equipment because it is effective against many microbes and leaves no residue after it reacts and decomposes. Unlike another strong oxidizer, chlorine, ozone does not react with organic materials to produce undesirable compounds and does not leave an unpleasant taste. Thus, ozone has begun to replace chlorine in treating drinking water, processing water for reuse, and wastewater (after treatment) before discharge. Most bottled water is treated with ozone, again because it is effective while not affecting taste. A number of researchers continue to explore applications of ozone in treating foods. While it often is effective, it is not suited to every potential application. Larry Beuchat, Professor of Food Science at the University of Georgia, Griffin, has tested ozone in a number of applications, including treating seeds before sprouting and treating the surface of cured meat. With meat, he found that too much ozone caused the meat to turn pale in color. Against Listeria, ozone was not much more effective than other sanitizers. In treating seeds, it takes high concentrations of sanitizers to eliminate pathogens because the organisms appear to gain protection from the relatively porous seed coat. Michael Doyle, Beuchat’s colleague at the university, tried to prevent the spread of Escherichia coli O157:H7 among cattle by treating their drinking water with various sanitizers, including ozone. Unfortunately, the high concentration of organic material in the water, due to undigested feed from the somewhat sloppy animals, consumed the oxidizers before they could affect the microbes. This illustrates a common problem with oxidizing sanitizers such as ozone— they are indiscriminate in their attack and so can be consumed by extraneous organic material. Ozone is used in aquaculture to disinfect water and assist in filtration; in cooling-tower water to reduce fouling; in bottled water and in many areas of food processing. In poultry processing, for example, ozone is used to purify the drinking water for chickens, to reduce airborne disease in chicken houses, to disinfect the chill water in a slaughter plant, and to disinfect the slicing equipment. Often, it is necessary to combine other treatments, such as cleaning, with ozone to remove competing organic material. Pacific Ozone Technology tailors its equipment to the application. Thus, the company offers units that concentrate oxygen from air using pressure swing absorption (PSA), some that use air directly, and others that feed pure oxygen from another source. The most common is PSA, because the feed gas must be dried anyway and the drying process is essentially the same as the concentration process. In aquaculture, where densities of fish or shrimp may be very high, pure oxygen may be available anyway, because it is used to keep the fish or shrimp alive, and so can be used to generate ozone. Finally, in salt water aquaria, it is desirable to preserve clarity by minimising formation of small bubbles, so making ozone from air is preferred. Pacific Ozone Technology supplies equipment to BOC Gases, Murray Hill, N.J., which makes contacting systems in which ozone is dissolved in water for subsequent use as a sanitizing agent. Mike DiMaggio, Business Manager, Food Safety Markets at BOC says that its system generates 4 ppm of ozone in 10 gal/min of water and often is used in a recirculating system, where the ozonated water is available at multiple stations. O3Co., a small firm in Aberdeen, Idaho, has studied the use of ozone to deactivate pathogens on potatoes. Currently, potatoes are not usually treated before storage and so may suffer deterioration due to pink rot, soft rot, and silver scurf.According to Lynn Johnson, President , O3Co. has shown that high concentrations of gaseous ozone applied as the potatoes are conveyed to storage can reduce the incidence of the pathogens. The ozone is applied in a covered conveyor. The Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), Idaho Falls, and O3Co. have broadened the target to include microbes that might be used as bioterrorism agents, infecting food to cause harm to humans, according to Alan Snyder, Senior Advisory Engineer at INEEL. Relatively little is known about ozone in such applications. After the anthrax attacks of 2001, office buildings and postal equipment were disinfected using high doses of chlorine dioxide, which caused extensive damage. The hope is that ozone might be less damaging in such recovery events. INEEL would use real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to detect pathogens as a means of monitoring and evaluating ozone treatments, Snyder said. Experiments against “select agents” —highly virulent human, animal, or plant pathogens — may need to be conducted in special containment facilities to prevent human infection. Ahmed Yousef, Professor of Food Science at Ohio State University, has helped develop an interesting process to reduce Salmonella in shell eggs, but he expresses alarm over misuse of ozone to treat fruit juices. Shell eggs can be pasteurised by a mild heat treatment (58 °C for 40 min). The eggs are not cooked, but do show turbidity in the whites. When heated at a lower temperature for about half the time and then exposed to gaseous ozone under pressure, the eggs show more than 6 log reduction in inoculated Salmonella with less turbidity. It is believed that the heat treatment improves the permeability of the shell to ozone and that the ozone then reacts with the microbes. It may be that the lethal action of ozone is from free radicals made by interaction with other materials or with the microbes themselves, as well as the reactive oxygen radical released by ozone as it decomposes. Yousef is concerned that some producers of apple juice are bubbling ozone through the juice as a substitute for heat pasteurisation. He feels that the quality of the juice is impaired and that pathogens are not reduced sufficiently because the ozone reacts with the juice rather than with the pathogens. Because of some incidents of E. coli O157:H7 transmitted by fresh fruit juices, the Food and Drug Administration requires that juices be treated to have a 5-log reduction in target pathogens. The most common treatment is to use heat, but since this affects the flavor, there is great interest in other options. High hydrostatic pressure, pulsed electric fields, irradiation, and, in the case of citrus, careful surface cleaning of tree-picked fruit are candidate treatments. FDA has not yet said whether it approves of ozonation for this purpose. A key lesson from Yousef ‘s work and that of others is that ozone reacts differently with various materials. For example, phenolics and flavor compounds in juice concentrates are very reactive, which means that ozone may not be very effective in pasteurizing such materials. Making of Trans Fat-Free Foods Trans fats have been used since the first part of the last century in manufacturing as a replacement for saturated fats. Although they impart crispness, creaminess, stability, and flavour to many common foods, trans fats are earning a reputation in some circles as a secret killer, responsible for increasing blood cholesterol levels and causing premature death. Nutritional studies in the 1980s comparing the diets of Scandinavian subjects to those of Americans found that the Scandinavians, while consuming large amounts of saturated fats, had relatively low levels of coronary heart disease (CHD). The American group, with lower dietary levels of saturated fats, but consuming higher levels of trans fats, had significantly higher occurrences of CHD. Thus started the course that eventually led to legislation passed in June 2003 that will require the Nutrition Facts panel on all food labels to indicate trans fat content by January 1, 2006. It’s possible that trans fats are indeed just as dangerous as, and maybe even more dangerous than, the saturated fats that we all expelled from our diets two decades ago. But it’s much more likely that trans fats are just one more element that needs to be considered when designing an eating program for life.
High levels of trans fats in the diet may raise LDL (ad) cholesterol levels and lower HDL (good) cholesterol le els, but that moderate consumption of these fats has no significant effect. Trans fat consumption amounts to only 2-4% of dietary fats, while saturated fats contitute 12-14%. Trans fats must be looked at realisticaly, and manufacturers must keep their eyes open to the situation.” The issue of trans fats is confusing, conflicting, and downright confounding to the average consumer. Most consumers don’t even know what trans fats are, much less how they are made and how much of them they should eat. A recent survey found that one in five consumers recalled recent media coverage about trans fats, but 61% didn’t remember what that coverage was about. And when asked which was healthier, trans fat or saturated fat, 41% said trans and 30% said saturated. There are even some individuals who believe that a fat-free diet is the way to go. Most consumers claim to want to eat better, but the popularity of super-sized portions and edible indulgences proves that although the acknowledgment is there, the desire to eat foods that taste good and are perceived as a good value is in the forefront of most diners’ minds. In a recent survey by the National Restaurant Association, consumers’ “intent to purchase” healthy alternatives was high, while their actual purchasing practices were often significantly different. “Taste and texture still rule,” says George Manak, Director of Marketing, Southeastern Mills, Rome, Ga., a manufacturer of biscuit, bread, sauce, and gravy mixes. “We are not seeing a groundswell of demand for trans fat-free products.” The food industry itself is acting on the trans fat issue, in light of the labelling regulation and as a proactive response to a general concern about healthy lifestyles, rather than being driven by the consumer at a grassroots level. The “good-for-you market” is increasing significantly, with a 7% increase in products labelled “light, lean, low, and less” last year, according to Information Resources Inc. Factors indicate that a nutrition strategy that addresses obesity and/or trans fat is timely. Producers such as Frito-Lay have been reducing the trans fats in their offerings for a long time. The oil conversion also means that all Frito-Lay chip lines will now be cooked in oils without trans fat. In September 2003, Frito-Lay launched a print ad campaign in major newspapers across America to share the news with consumers that “America’s favorite snack chips have zero grams of trans fats,” says Frito-Lay’s Dougherty. “The full-page ads appeared in the top 25 newspapers by circulation, in both English and Spanish. This ad was part of Frito-Lay’s ongoing effort to help consumers make informed and healthier snacking choices.” The demands of the food processing industry require that suppliers provide leading-edge science to deliver ingredients that answer the needs of food product manufacturers. “Oil manufacturers must deliver the lipid profiles that meet the needs of their customers,” says Bunge’s Francis. “As manufacturers of ingredients, lipid suppliers must help deliver on what individual companies’ research tells them their customers are looking for, in terms of product attributes and overall performance.” Bunge is addressing increased interest in reducing trans fat through the research done at its recently created Oil Centre of Excellence. As the world’s largest oilseed processor, Bunge has experts who work with customers to ensure that the company delivers the functionality its customers need in their consumer products. Bunge offers
Vreamay RighT and Vream RighT shortenings that deliver an 85% reduction in trans fats compared to their Vreamay and Vream conventional shortenings. The trans fat issue has yet to make a huge impact on the restaurant industry. “Except for markets like health care, foodservice and institutional operations don’t see a whole lot of demand for fat-free or trans fat-free products,” says Southern Mills’ Manak. “We find that sometimes offering reduced-fat options fights the image of the base product. The issue just doesn’t translate well into foodservice.” Providing nutrition as well as functionality, fats have been re-evaluated as part of a healthy diet. A recent suggested version of the Food Pyramid includes plant oils, including olive, canola, sunflower, soy, corn, peanut and other oils, on the lowest food tier, sharing space with whole-grain foods. This pyramid has at its apex white rice, white bread, and pasta, along with red meat and butter. It is clear that the marketing of trans fat-free foods is going to have to begin with education. When trans fat content starts to appear on food labels, most manufacturers expect questions from their customers about the new addition. Preparing Healthy Food for Infants and Toddlers Infant and toddler foods usually represent children’s first exposure to a broad range of solid foods, contributing to both nutritional intake and development of eating skills during the first two years of life. As would be expected, the infant and toddler food category is impacted by the same general factors that influence the entire food industry, such as economic conditions and demographics. And the category is specifically impacted by birthrates, breast-feeding patterns, high turnover of consumers, and competition. Infant and toddler foods are subject to the same set of success factors that apply to the industry as a whole-e.g., meeting a consumer need and financial viability. What distinguishes this food category is the relative importance that must be placed on certain elements of product development, namely, safety, product purity and developmental appropriateness. Although convenience and nutrition are not unique to the category, they are major drivers that influence practically every aspect of product and package development. With a few exceptions, infant and toddler products are shelf-stable and represent a fairly broad cross-section of food types.
Among the core products for infants are instant cereals, juice, and purees made from fruit, vegetable, cereal, and meats. Cereals are usually baby’s first exposure to solid foods. Purees are available as single-
ingredient offerings and in a wide variety of combinations. Bakery and snack items are also available for older infants and toddlers. . These consist of long-standing products such as teething biscuits, zwieback toast, and arrowroot cookies, along with an assortment of newer offerings, many of which are similar to adult products but adapted to meet the needs of toddlers and their caregivers. Product lines targeted to toddlers are typically sub-branded to distinguish them from their infant counterparts, e.g., Gerber uses the Graduates sub-brand and Beechnut uses Table Time. Both infant and toddler products have typically been offered as individual meal components that can be mixed and matched during feeding at the discretion of the caregiver. In 2002, Gerber introduced Lil’ Entrees, the first line of mealtime combinations for older infants and toddlers, se rved in microwavable trays, which offer nutrition and convenience for on-the go parents. The major safety concerns of microbiological, microphysical, or chemical contamination are primarily addressed in product safety, quality assurance, and manufacturing groups. The primary role of the product developer is to understand and adhere to these policies while formulating products that meet overall acceptance criteria. From a total quality standpoint, extra care is taken to meet the regulatory requirements, to cultivate supplier/ grower relationships, to maintain state-of-the-art quality systems, and to ensure that ingredients meet strict specifications. To maintain consumer trust, safety is given the highest priority. Infant food manufacturers often act proactively to exceed requirements set forth by regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Manufacturer policies include strict specifications for all ingredients. This is particularly important for the production of fruit and vegetable crops with respect to the use of crop protectants and the presence of environmental contaminants such as heavy metals and other pollutants. Gerber, for example, has maintained a database to record more than a decade of history among its growers, including detail involving specific fields and orchards. This program combines carefully designed growing practices and raw material specifications along with a detailed understanding of the impact of unit processes on post-process levels of these components. Co-manufacturers are required to purchase most raw materials from specific approved suppliers. The vast majority of wet infant and toddler foods are still processed by hot-fill-hold or retort processes. Typically, retorted baby foods are subjected to rather conservative thermal processes to ensure a very low probability of spoilage or pathogen survival. Gerber has recently made improvements in its cooking method through its patented Nature Lock process and its introduction of aseptically processed and packaged fruit purees in plastic, both of which improve overall quality and convenience of baby foods. Tamper evidence is a common feature of packaged foods. Jarred infant and toddler food items use a pop-up button on the cap that “pops” when the container is opened and releases vacuum. The vacuum is created in process as the product cools and steam condenses in the headspace. In some instances, there are dual modes of tamper evidence. For example, Gerber’s 4-oz juices in plastic bottles use a foil seal at the bottle opening coupled with a drop-band perforated to the cap. Pure products and clean labels are critical in infant and toddler foods. Therefore, a number of common, approved ingredients receive no or limited use in these categories. Most notable is the virtual absence of artificial colours, artificial flavours, and preservatives in the category. Some of their natural counterparts are used; however, this is generally limited to certain products for older infants and toddlers. Use of staple food ingredients such as salt, sugar, and starches is also limited, especially in the infant segment. Seasonings, herbs, and spices are sometimes used in foods for older babies. Non-blended purees generally contain only fruit or vegetable, vitamin C, and water for processing. Therefore, variety selection and processing conditions can play an important role in product acceptance. The boundaries of ingredient usage likely exist as policies among the various manufacturers. Both usage and label statements are carefully scrutinised throughout the product development process. As highlighted here, flexibility is limited in product formulations, and there are certainly instincts where product purity overrides potential taste; however, developers often meet this challenge. Infants and toddlers are not little adults; they are unique in many ways. Among them is the rapid rate of change in eating skills and capabilities as they grow and develop in other more obvious ways. At birth, most infants have no teeth and can only suckle from the breast or bottle. The introduction of solid foods requires some adaptation from the instinctive suckling movements to accommodate spooning. With development of tongue lateralisation, infants develop the ability to control thicker purees and small, soft particles. The absence, or presence of few, molars requires that particles are relatively small and soft.
Bakery and snack products should melt or dissolve so as not to require extensive chewing. Complex textures involving two or more distinct components or consistencies require more advanced oral motor skills. The emergence of front teeth and molars combined with oral control gives toddlers the ability to begin consuming more complex foods. These are foods that require biting off, more extensive chewing, and sometimes the need to control multiple textures. Another development during infancy and toddlerhood is the progression of gross and fine motor skills. Older infants can typically begin to self-feed. These skills are usually crude to begin with and often involve raking of food onto their fingers and scraping it into the mouth on the bottom jaw. More advanced skills would involve pincer grasp to pick up and consume single pieces of food. Toddlers will begin to use utensils, and this usually begins with spooning followed later by spearing. During the first two years of the child’s life, the feeding roles progress from caregiver as sole feeder to caregiver as primary feeder to toddler as primary feeder to toddler as sole feeder. Manufacturers strive to develop and position products that fit this complex progression of eating skills. Foods developed for specific age targets must account for oral, gross, and fine motor skills at that age, along with the wide age variation observed in the development of these skills. To assist caregivers, developmental cues are commonly included on label copy and in advertising to help guide choices and the appropriate timing for introduction of new food forms and textures. Infant and toddler food manufacturers generally use the same types of consumer test methods as are used for adult foods, including concept tests, focus groups, central location tests, and home use tests. In contrast with other foods, however, infant and toddler foods present the challenge that the primary consumer does not communicate using words. Rather, the caregiver, normally the mother, speaks on behalf of the child or interprets the facial expressions and body language responses of the child. Interpretations are usually limited to overall liking. Extreme examples of dislike are turning the head away or spitting the food out, while liking might be demonstrated by reaching for the incoming spoon or cooing. Caregivers routinely evaluate products during the same session, and this can be broadened to a range of product attributes, diagnostics, and purchase drivers. Using a combination of child and caregiver evaluations, product formulas may be optimised using statistical optimisation techniques. Typically, baby foods rely on the naturally occurring nutrients in foods. Building to a wide variety of solid foods is also recommended. Nonetheless, some baby foods are routinely fortified. For example, vitamin C is added to fruits and juices, and iron and zinc are added to jarred cereals, bakery products, and dry snack items. Dry cereals generally contain 10-25% DV (for infants 0-1 year old) of multiple B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B-6, folate, and B-12), plus iron, zinc, and calcium. Vitamin C is included in some brands but not others. Technical challenges and limitations are similar to those encountered across the food industry. Labels for infant and toddler products are governed by the same set of regulations as other foods. However, there are some unique requirements for the category. For example, total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol content are not required on infant food labels because these nutrients should not be limited in the infant diet. Toddler foods, on the other hand, require labelling of these nutrients. Serving sizes for most infant foods are based on historical jar sizes and typical consumption patterns. Purees typically follow a progression similar to Gerber’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Foods, which have corresponding jar (and serving) sizes of 2½ oz, 3½4 oz, and 6 oz. Actual consumption varies considerably depending on individual preferences, complementary foods offered at the same meal occasion, and appetite. It is recommended that caregivers transfer cereals and purees to a separate serving dish for feeding time because salivary amylase could be transferred and cause thinning of any unused puree. Opened containers of puree can be stored under proper refrigeration for up to several days. Discoveries in nutrition continue to occur, especially in the area of functional foods. While these types of ingredients continue to be heavily studied, there has been relatively little impact to date on infant and toddler foods. As with functional foods for adults, this is in sharp contrast to global markets, especially Europe and Southeast Asia, where the use of functional ingredients is prevalent in infant and toddler foods. Although birthrates in the U.S. are relatively constant, the demographics are not. Given the well-established links between cultural origin and food preferences, development of culturally diverse infant and toddler foods could be the next formulation challenge for manufacturers. Some infant and toddler foods involve unique manufacturing processes, while others do not. As a whole, infant and toddler food manufacturers use conservative parameters for thermal processing and
demand high standards for raw materials, packaging materials, and process control. Highlighted below are those processes considered to be most unique to the category. Many types of produce are only available seasonally. A few fruits and vegetables can be stored in controlled environments for months, while other crops must be processed on a purely seasonal basis. The season for some can be extended by staggered plantings or by sourcing from multiple geographic locations. Some commodities car. be frozen to extend the processing season. Each fruit or vegetable may have some unique preparation step, and each may have its own processing characteristics. For example, peas need to be shelled, spinach needs more vigorous washing than other crops, green beans get tangled and are hard to convey, and squash needs to be chopped to remove seeds. Purees are produced by fine grinding to give a pulp of fruit or vegetable solids and juice. Traditionally, infant foods were made by long cooking of whole fruits and vegetables, followed by pulping, usually in a paddle finisher. The cooking softened the materials so they could be forced through the screen of the finisher. Seeds, skins, and stems were left behind on the screen. Cooking was by direct contact with steam in long vessels. Condensate contained large amounts of soluble solids, reducing yield and generating a strong waste stream. The extended cooking also reduced vitamin content and developed less desirable flavour and colour. A significant improvement to particle size reduction for infant foods is Gerber’s proprietary, patented Nature Lock process. The concept is to grind the fruits and vegetables before they are cooked, producing a coarse puree which is then heated quickly to inactivate degradative enzymes. The puree passes through a second extractor to further reduce the particle size and then is pumped to batch tanks for filling. This shorter cooking process exposes fruit and vegetable purees to less heat, resulting in improved retention of flavour and colour. Instant cereal for infants is typically small flakes of single grains or combinations which may be reconstituted with breastmilk, formula, water, or fruit juice. All contain vitamins and minerals, and some contain dried fruit. The traditional process has been drum drying of a slurry which may be treated with added enzymes to improve flavour and digestibility. A wide variety of packages are used for infant and toddler foods. Among them are paperboard cartons, pouches, and canisters for dry cereal; glass jars and plastic bottles for juice; glass jars and plastic dishes for purees; bag-in-box formats and canisters for bakery and snack items; and a range of microwavable plastic dishes for dinners and meal-time combinations.As with requirements for adult foods, infant and toddler foods are a balance of product requirements, consumer preference, and cost. Plastic packaging is making important inroads in the category, as evidenced by Gerber’s juices in 4-oz plastic bottles, Gerber’s and Heinz’s fruit purees in plastic dishes, and Gerber Lil’ Entrees in microwavable, heatseal trays.For infant and toddler foods, it is generally expected that the caregiver will open and heat the product. Many packages are developed for portability. Some packages are designed for the caregiver as the primary feeder, while others are developed for the infant/toddler as primary feeder. More widespread use of plastic packaging is a trend in the category. Modern Baby Foods Making baby foods more convenient, through packaging and formulation innovations, is one area food companies are exploring. Expanding their traditional “baby” product lines to include foods specifically targeted to toddlers is another trend. This strategy not only allows them to provide busy consumers with more options for quick and easy meals for children transitioning to table food, but also gives companies a larger pool of potential customers by increasing the age limit on their products. Addressing a variety of health concerns is also a trend. Some manufacturers have responded to consumers’ concerns about pesticides and genetically modified organisms by introducing product lines that are advertised as organic and free of genetically modified ingredients. Companies, such as Gerber, are even launching health initiatives to address the United States’ alarming juvenile obesity rates, trying to educate parents on proper feeding techniques and stressing that healthy eating habits are learned early. With birth rates projected to rise in the next few years, companies are poised to benefit from an increasing market. Already, the baby food sections of grocery stores are changing to capture those dollars. Between 1997 and 2002, sales of baby food and snacks increased 12.6%, although that figure is down 0.7% in constant 2002 dollars, according to consumer study The Baby Food and Drink Market, published by market research firm Mintel. The report states that the growth and decline in the market during that time period paralleled the growth and decline in annual birth rates. Although there have been a few successful products during that time, the general growth trend has been slow to flat. Baby food producers face a unique problem in that the time period during which consumers will buy their products is limited. Most
infants transition from formula to baby food or toddler food within two years. According to Mintel’s analysis of data from the Simmons National Consumer Survey, 68% of respondents with children under the age of two years use formula, and only slightly more than half use food, cereal, or juice. They also use an average of 10.6 servings of baby food per week, 7.5 of cereal, and 7.9 of juice, suggesting that consumers supplement their children’s diets with foods not specifically made for babies, such as table food. In an effort to stretch out the finite window of opportunity available to sell their products, many companies are beginning to expand their product lines to include foods specifically targeted to toddlers, who are usually around age two. Gerber has been very successful in this area with its Gerber Graduates’ line of foods specifically designed for toddlers. The products, which the company launched in 1996, mimic adult foods but are sized for toddler fingers and formulated to meet toddlers’ nutritional needs. The grabbable bitesize pieces are made for children learning to selffeed. They are also sized to avoid risk of choking. The Graduates line includes snacks, meals, fruits, vegetables, and juices. Other companies are also jumping at the opportunity to feed hungry toddlers. Earth’s Best Baby Food launched its first toddler product, Earth’s Best® Tots Cereal Bars. The individually wrapped bars are made from organic wheat flour, contain no genetically engineered ingredients, and are fortified with calcium, iron, zinc, and six B vitamins. They are sized for toddlers’ hands and come in strawberry banana, cherry, and peanut butter strawberry flavors. Although specifically labeled organic baby food has been available in natural food retail outlets for quite a while, it hadn’t gained a hold with major baby food companies until recently. Earth’s Best is the largest all-organic company in the baby food market. Gerber, the largest baby food player overall, introduced its own line of organic foods in 2001. Gerber’s Tender Harvest products feature a full line of certified organic baby foods with unique flavors and combinations that mirror the three stages of its regular line of baby food. Both lines are free of genetically modified ingredients, pesticides, and herbicides. While most nutritionists don’t advocate organic over regular baby food, many say food companies are simply offering consumers an alternative, and it is always good to have more choices available when it comes to feeding children. As we enter the new millennium, there are roughly 840 million chronically undernourished people in the world, 799 million of them in developing countries. The remaining 41 million are found in industrialised countries and in states undergoing transition, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. That the total number of undernourished people is 20 million lower than it was in 1990-92 is both good news and bad news. The good news is that there has been a decline in the number of hungry people in the past decade despite rapid population growth; despite natural disasters, such as hurricane Mitch, floods in China, and droughts across Africa; and despite an upsurge of armed conflicts in countries like Liberia, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Sudan. It should at least be recognised that some progress is being made against very difficult odds. A great many efforts are being made across the globe to bring about increases in agricultural productivity through research and extension, reductions in poverty through, for example, microfinance schemes, and reductions in the disease burden through vaccination campaigns. However, even if all such efforts were to succeed in coming decades, hungry people need to eat today to benefit from, and contribute to, those gains. Indeed, poverty reduction efforts remain stymied by the persistence of hunger that prevents millions of people from participating in processes of change. That is where the World Food Program (WFP) comes in. WFP is perhaps best known as the United Nations agency that responds to humanitarian emergencies by delivering food aid to hungry people all over the globe. In 2002, WFP fed 44 million individuals through emergency operations. Yet WFP also seeks to remove root causes of hunger by using food in development programs. In both contexts, getting enough food to people who need it is critical. But quantity of food is not all that matters — so, too, does quality. As a result, WFP has increasingly turned to state-of-the-art milling, extruding, and fortification technologies to support some of its food aid activities. This article briefly describes what WFP does and the challenges it faces in addressing hunger with food aid, then presents three recent initiatives in the micronutrient fortification of food aid that offer some hope for making faster progress against hunger in coming years. In the 40 years since it was founded, WFP has acted to redress the devastating impact of hunger on the world’s poorest people. The numbers involved are so large as to be mind-numbing. Consider, for example, the entire population of the U.S. and Canada going hungry. Then double it. Then add the population of Mexico. Even that total does not match how many undernourished people there are in developing countries.As a UN institution, WFP embodies the principle that food should reach hungry
people when they need it, wherever they may be —not only in the context of disasters, but also where grinding poverty and ill-health inhibit access to food on a daily basis. While WFP is not the only agency that dedicates itself to this ideal, it is the largest multilateral player where food aid is concerned. Between 1962 and 2002, WFP delivered more than 65 million metric tons of food to people in 100 countries. In recent years, the bulk of WFP’s food assistance has been for addressing emergencies. The 1990s saw a large increase in the number of refugees and other people displaced by political instability or war. Humanitarian crises in Somalia, the Great Lakes region of Africa, the Balkans, the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea and, elsewhere meant that WFP channeled almost $12 billion of humanitarian assistance during the decade. Sadly, the trend continues: simmering crises in Afghanistan, Angola, and Sudan were joined in 2002 by renewed large-scale emergencies in Ethiopia/Eritrea and southern Africa. Always on the front line in emergencies, WFP staff often face logistical and personal nightmares. For example, during Afghanistan’s winter of 2001 (after removal of the Taliban regime), there was a serious threat of famine. To meet the threat, WFP had to airlift food from Pakistan to Turkmenistan when WFP warehouses in Central Asia ran dry; snow and avalanche experts were brought in from Sweden and Canada to help keep the mountain passes open during the depth of winter; commercial trucks braved storms at high altitude because WFP fitted snow blowers and subsidised their fuel; and donkeys were hired to carry food where trucks could not proceed through the deep snow. And as in many conflict zones, personal insecurity from land mines, bombing, and armed engagements led to some tragedies. Since 1988, more than 60 WFP staff members have been killed in the line of humanitarian duty. A large part of helping people better withstand shocks involves building up human capacity —the health, nutrition, education, and skills that are essential if poor people are to pull themselves out of poverty. Enabling girls to get into school, providing skills training to widows, offering nutritional rehabilitation to those who are seriously ill —all such activities represent investments against the return of hunger. With that in mind, WFP has become increasingly focused on the need to ensure not just enough food, but also the most nutritious food possible. Since its first operations WFP has made a point of delivering a nutritionally balanced food basket. WFP’s main food commodities are cereal grains, pulses, vegetable oil, salt, sugar, and blended foods used for nutritional rehabilitation of malnourished children and mothers. The typical food ration is designed to provide at least 2,100 kcal, while providing sufficient diversity such that minimal levels of fat and protein are achieved. Great care has always been taken in ensuring local palatability/ acceptability and food safety. In 2002, WFP purchased 41% of all the food delivered to recipients; of that, 67% was obtained from within developing countries. However, with all the care in the world, food rations cannot always meet all nutrient requirements of people who have been depleted by months, perhaps years, of hunger. That is especially true of refugees who often rely almost exclusively on food rations for their consumption needs. This is where micronutrient fortification becomes an option. Problems of Micronutrients While undernutrition—a continued shortage of food — becomes all too visible when a child is thin or sickly, there are also other forms of malnutrition that are less visible but equally devastating: micronutrient deficiencies. Vitamins and minerals such as iron keep children active and help with mental development; vitamin A prevents blindness and strengthens the immune system; iodine stops goiter and cretinism, and zinc helps young children’s physical growth. Everyone needs micronutrients, if only in minute quantities. But when the minute quantities are not met, problems arise. According to the World Health Organisation, deficiencies of iron, vitamin A, and zinc rank among the top ten leading causes of death through disease in developing countries. Where iron is concerned, at least half of all pregnant women and young children around the world are deficient.
Children under 24 months of age are especially at risk of anemia, which impairs their mental and physical development, reduces their ability to resist common childhood diseases, and lowers their ability to concentrate and perform well in school. Anemia is a serious risk to mothers in childbirth, and it impairs the health and labor productivity of other working adults. As a result, countries like Bangladesh lose 1-2% of their annual gross national product directly because of high levels of anemia. Similarly, removing zinc deficiencies would prevent around 800,000 deaths per year, and eradicating vitamin A deficiency would cut child deaths from measles by 50%. In the longer term, enhancing the amount and variety of local foods produced should be the desired goal. When people have access to more and better foods, the micronutrient problem becomes manageable. But in the absence of sustained poverty reduction and greater food access in most poor countries a number of agencies such as WHO, UNICEF, the Micronutrient Initiative (MI), Helen Keller International, and others continue to be actively engaged in supporting developing countries to distribute supplements (often capsules) containing vitamin A or iron through clinics and sometimes schools. Great progress has been made in tackling vitamin A deficiency around the world through this means, but iron and other deficiencies are proving to be more difficult to tackle via supplements, and coverage remains limited in many places.
Protection of Hot Foods Equipment used for keeping or serving hot food should be capable of maintaining the food at a temperature of atleast 60°C. At this temperature the growth of pathogenic organisms is inhibited and in many cases the organisms are destroyed.
Catering Where food is prepared for off-the-premises service or consumption special additional measures are necessary to prevent food contamination and to inhibit the growth of microorganisms. This applies to catering operations for airlines, railways, and bus companies, to group catering as well as to restaurants that use ready prepared foods.
Special precaution should be taken to keep hot food hot, and cold food cold until they are served. If it is impracticable or undesirable to keep prepared foods at or above 60°C they should be chilled promptly and refrigerated at 7°C or below. Refrigerated foods as well as other unserved foods should be reheated, as previously noted. Cleaning and Sanitisation of Eating and Drinking Equipments All crockery, glassware, cutlery, and kitchen utensils” should be cleaned and sanitized after use. Food preparation and serving equipment should be cleaned and sanitized as needed during the day. Separate arrangements are usually provided for washing and sanitizing glassware and cooking pots.
The use of approved types of automatic machines is recommended wherever possible for washing crockery, glassware, and cutlery. After washing the items should be rinsed in hot water at 82°C. Handwashing of eating and drinking equipments is acceptable if all items are thoroughly cleaned with hot water and an effective detergent and then rinsed in hot water at 82°C for 2 minutes. A booster heater in the form of an electric immersion heater or an under-sink gas heater is generally used to keep the water hot, and long handled baskets are essential for submerging washed dishes and utensils in a separate hot water
sink. Immersion in a chlorine solution (or other disinfectant) providing at least 50 mg/litre of available chlorine for at least 2 minutes may also be acceptable to the health authorities in place of hot water disinfection. However, chlorine or other chemical disinfection should not be used as a substitute for hot water. Washed and rinsed articles should be left in a rack or on a draining board to drain and air dry. When water at 82°C is used to sanitize equipment after washing, the heat retained is usually enough to produce rapid drying. Dry clothes should not be used because they may cause contamination and are in any case unnecessary if dishes and utensils are properly cleaned and sanitized in ideal situation. Mosquito Control Control must include attack of both larvae and adults, preference normally being given to the control of larvae. Larvae can be controlled through the following measures: 1. Empty and remove all water containers—Cans, jars, buckets, discarded tires etc. from the area. 2. Eliminate depressions, mud flats and other water holding areas by draining of filling. 3. Clear of vegetation likely to harbour larvae and if possible allow water levels to fluctuate to reduce the production of larvae. 4. Treat areas of water with light oil or insecticide against larvae. 5. Introduce top-feeding minnows, goldfish, or similar fish into established ornamental pools to consume larvae. 6. Screen or cover cisterns, water tanks, and other permanent water containers.
Insect and Rodent Control The proper management of hotels, tourist establishments and recreation areas includes effective control of insects and rodents since their presence can reduce the attractiveness of the area. In addition to being a nuisance many are actual vectors of disease while rodents can also cause economic damage and fire hazards. Many insecticides and rodenticides are available for controlling insects, pests and rodents but the use of these chemicals must be considered as a supplement to basic sanitation and other physical and biological control measures aimed at the elimination or control of breeding areas.
Mouse and Insect Glue Traps
Some basic sanitation measures that are particularly applicable in hotels, motels, eating places, camping sites, and resort areas are as follows: 1. proper storage, collection, and disposal of refuse, including manure; 2. elimination or reduction of breeding areas by control of water impoundments, clearing of brush, and use of rodent-proof construction methods for all buildings and other structures; 3. screening of doors and windows in all places of work and habitation; 4. special sanitation precautions for all food storage, preparation and service areas; 5. pest control operations at regular intervals or as needed. The success of insect and rodent control measures depends largely on the existence of a basic sanitation and environmental control programme. Rat Control Domestic rats and mice live in close proximity to many, being found in living quarters, kitchens, storerooms, outbuildings and animal quarters. In addition to their disease transmission potential, rodents can cause substantial structural damage and consume and contaminate large amounts of food-stuffs.
A rat consumes about 8 kgs (17 lb) of food (including garbage) yearly and can produce 4 or 5 litters a year.
The Power Tool for Rodent Control Rat control should start with a survey to determine the source of the rats and the conditions that encourage the infestation. This is followed by a programme to (1) kill the rats by poisoning; (2) remove their sources of food and water; (3) eliminate their harbourages and make them ratproof and (4) educate and obtain the cooperation of the people. Extreme care should be taken in the transportation, storage and use of insecticides and rodenticides to prevent health and environmental problems arising from their improper use. New insecticide formulations and rat poisons are continually being developed. The chemical compounds mentioned in this chapter as being suitable for pest control were judged to be the best available when this guide was being prepared. The situation may change but the pesticides mentioned will probably continue to be produced and used for some time to come, Bedbug Control
Bedbug infestations can usually be controlled by the application of an insecticide to baseboards and mouldings, wall crevices, bedsheets, springs and mattresses. Residual sprays containing, lindane, fenchlorphos or malathion have been found effective. A pyrethrum spray applied to baseboards and other protected places just before the residual spray will cause the bedbugs to migrate and ensure contact with the residual spray. Pyrethrum can also be added to the residual spray. Mattresses should not be soaked with the spray and infant bedding or cribs should not be treated.
Cockroach Control Cockroaches live and breed in moist dark places behind baseboards, around plumbing, under refrigerators and in cupboards, pantries and kitchens. Outdoors they are found in piles of debris, rubbish and garbage. Cleanliness is the first objective in the elimination of cockroaches. All food-handling areas should be cleaned frequently. Diazinon, propoxur, dichlorvos, or malathion can be sprayed into places where cockroaches hide or travel. Painting a band of insecticide 10 cm wide around the base of a room has been found to be most effective in eliminating cockroaches.
Scorpions, Spiders and Wasps Control Scorpions, certain spiders such as the black widow and brown spiders, and wasps are dangerous to man. Recognition and avoidance of dangerous species and elimination of their hiding and resting places are the best protective measures. Chemical control of scorpions can be obtained by spraying their hiding or nesting places with carbary (1-2%), chlordane (2%) or dieldrin (0.5%), malathion (2-3%) are effective against spiders. Nests of wasps yellow-jackets and hornets can be treated with water based sprays containing propoxure (0.5%), carbary! (2%), diaznon (0.5%)or malathion (2%). Fly Control The primary sources of fly production are garbage and manure, The elimination of these sources is an essential step in the control of flies. Under warm weather conditions the reproduction cycle from egg to larva to pupa to adult winged fly requires approximately 1 week. For this reason garbage collection and manure removal should be carried out twice weekly. Doors and windows should be fitted with 1.5m (16mesh) screen and all screen doors should open outwards. Residual sprays, where permitted, will control most species of flies. Walls and vegetation, especially near refuse containers may be sprayed with diazmon dimethoate, dichlorvos, naled or malathion to control adult flies and larvae.
SANITATIONAL ASPECT OF SWIMMING POOLS Following basic criteria should be met in the design and operation of swimming pools for public use: 1. The pool should be properly located to reduce air borne contamination by dust, algal spores, leaves etc. The location should not encourage non-swimmers to congregate near the pool. The area around the pool should be drained and fenced. 2. A supply of approved water must be available for filling and regulating the level of the pool. There should be no direct connection between the drinking water system and the pool water system. 3. The pool should have a capacity adequate for the expected use by bathers, swimmers etc. 4. Approved materials should be used in the construction. 5. The design should not include features that could create accident hazards-e.g. sloping walls, inadequate depths of water for diving, excessively steep bottom slopes in the bathing area, and inadequate walkways or decks around the pool. 6. Provision should be made for continuous purification of the water in the pool. Where the water is recirculated, purification can be achieved by a turn-over rate of 4 times per 24 hours with
filtration and the use of a disinfectant such as chlorine to provide a bactericidal residual at all times. 7. Surveillance should be maintained to prevent bathers with communicable diseases, open wounds, infected sores, or skin diseases from using the pool. 8. There should be continuous supervision of pool used by trained lifeguards and operating personnel. 9. The pool and its related facilities, particularly the recirculation and disinfection equipment, should be properly maintained. Warm water showers can reduce the amount of pollution introduced by bathers. 10. Regular bacteriological and chemical sampling of the pool water should be carried out during periods of heavy use. Daily testing for free available residual chlorine and of the pH is required before and during use of the pool. 11. Rules and regulations governing the use of the pool should be pasted in a conspicuous place for the information of users.
Standards for the guidance of swimming pool operators are discussed below. Pool owners and operators should adhere to established criteria and standards of this types as a protection against legal claims that might arise. (In some countries, standards and permits are issued for operation of swimming pool.)
Swimming Pool Operation The sanitary quality of swimming pool water is determined by certain bacteriological, chemical and physical tests. Some of the more important tests and the standards used are described in American Public Association’s publication. Briefly, the standards are as follows: pH 7.2-8.2 Alkalinity at least 50 mg/litre Clarity a 15 cm (6 in) black disc. on a white field should be readily visible at the deepest point. Plate count not more than 15% samples over a considerable period of time should contain more than 200 bacteria per ml. Coliform organisms not more than 15% of samples over a considerable (dichlorinated sample of period of time should be positive (confirmed test) water) in any of five10-ml portions or show more than 1.0 coliform organism per 50 ml in membrane filter test. The single most important factor in controlling the sanitary quality of swimming pool water is the maintenance of an adequate concentration of a satisfactory disinfectant in the water at all times when the pool is in use. QUESTIONS FOR ANSWER 1. Define sanitation and discuss concepts of Architectural Features, Personal Hygiene and Sanitational Plumbing, 2. Write short notes on the following: (a) Cleaning and Sanitation of Eating and Drinking Equipment (b) Sanitational aspects of Swimming Pools, (c) Sanitation in Food Establishments
Sound and Healthy Hotel Environment (Sanitation) Unless hotels manage sound and healthy environment for workers and guests they will not be a safe place for living and recreation for the guests and workers alike. The word sanitation has root in the Latin word ‘sanus’ meaning sound and healthy. In general, it is found that if the environment within the premises and outside the premises are kept and looked after as per various norms and standards then sanitation can be achieved to a great extent. Bad sanitation is due only to non-observance of right methods of food storage, waste disposal and apathy towards control of insects and rodents.
For appropriate sanitary condition, trained personnel, proper equipments, space and adequate knowledge are essential. In India the toilets, baths, urinals, wash-up areas in general, are poorly maintained. Special emphasis must be given for the improvement of the above particularly for hotels, motels, and other tourist places.
Hereunder, we will discuss various aspects concerning sanitation in hotels. ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES The structural soundness of the building housing the food establishment, the facilities provided, and the layout of equipment are also important for food hygiene. All outside openings should be screened during the fly season with 1.5 mm (16-mesh) screens. The building should be of rodent-proof construction. Walls, floors and ceilings should be easy to clean. Adequate lighting and ventilation are needed in all working areas, storage rooms, passages and toilet rooms. Toilet and hand-washing facilities must be provided for the use of employees, Potable hot and cold water under pressure and proper sewage or other waste-water disposal system are essential requirements. PERSONAL HYGIENE All employees should wear clean outer garments, preferably uniforms supplied and cleaned daily by the management The employees should maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and observe hygienic practices while at work. Hands should be thoroughly washed after every break in food service operations, particularly after use of the toilet and after the handling of raw foods such as poultry and meat. A conveniently located washhand basin with warm water, soap, and clean towels is necessary to facilitate personal hygiene and cleanliness.
EQUIPMENT LAYOUTS These should be planned efficiently as well as for easy cleaning and appropriate servicing. Temperature regulated equipments should properly confirm the temperature standards and in general, equipments should be corrosion resistant and non-toxic.
SANITATION IN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS The essential elements of health protection in food establishments are as follows: 1. adequate refrigeration equipment and prompt and proper refrigeration (at 70°C) of perishable and prepared foods; 2. cooking to proper internal temperature of pork (67°C), poultry, and all stuffed meats (74°C); holding of hot foods at 60°C, and thorough reheating (71°C) of refrigerated cooked food before service; 3. use of wholesome food and food ingredients; 4. cleanliness and good habits of personal hygiene in employees, who should be free from any communicable disease or infection transmissible through food or food service; a minimum handling of food; 5. clean surfaces for food preparation and adequate properly constructed equipment that is easily washed and sanitised; 6. structurally sound, clean facilities in good repair and adequately lighted and ventilated premises that can be properly cleaned; 7. an adequate supply of potable water (hot and cold), detergents and equipment for the cleaning and sanitization of dishes and utensils; elimination of connections or conditions that may permit backflow or backsiphonage of polluted or suspect water into the water supply piping or into equipment, 8. proper storage of refuse and disposal of all liquid and solid wastes; 9. control of rodents, flies, cockroaches, and other vermin and proper use and storage of pesticides. SANITATIONAL PLUMBING While certain details of plumbing installations vary with location, the basic sanitary and safety principles are the same. The essential criteria are as follows: 1. Potable water supply: All permanent premises intended for human habitation shall be provided with a supply of potable water. Such a water supply shall not be connected to unsafe water sources nor shall it be subject to the hazards of backflow or backsiphonage. Faucets should not be provided on non-potable water lines in areas accessible to the public but if this is unavoidable the outlet must be labelled as unsafe and should preferably be operable only by means of a special key.
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Adequate water requirements: Plumbing fixtures, devices. and accessories shall be supplied with water in sufficient volume and at pressures adequate to enable them to function properly and without undue noise under normal conditions of use.
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Water conservation: Plumbing shall be designed and adjusted to use the minimum quantity of water consistent with its proper performance and cleaning requirements. Dangers of explosion or overheating: Devices for heating and storing water shall be so designed and installed as to guard against dangers from explosion or overheating as well as risks of carbon monoxide poisoning and asphyxiation. Disposal of wastes: Every building with installed plumbing fixtures shall be served by an adequate sewerage system Plumbing fixture: Plumbing fixtures shall be made of durable, smooth non-absorbent and corrosion-resistant materials and shall be free from concealed fouling surfaces All such fixtures shall be protected by an air gap between the water outlet and fixture overflow rim, or by other approved means, from the possibility of backflow or backsiphonage. Drainage system of adequate size: The drainage system shall be designed, constructed and maintained to prevent undue noise and vibration fouling, deposit of solids, and clogging; it should be so arranged that pipes may readily be cleaned.
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Durable materials: The piping of the plumbing system shall be of durable material, free from defective workmanship and be designed and constructed to give satisfactory service for a reasonable life span. Liquid sealed traps: Each fixture directly connected to the drainage system shall be equipped with a liquid-seal (non-siphoning) trap to prevent the entry of sewer gas into the building.
10. Prevention of contamination: Proper protection shall be provided to prevent the contamination of food, water, and similar materials by backflow of sewage. When necessary the fixture, device or appliance shall be connected indirectly (through an air gap) with the building’s drainage system.
11. Lighting and ventilation: No water closet or similar fixture shall be located in a room or compartment that is not properly lighted and ventilated.
12.
Prevention of sewage overflow: Where a plumbing drainage system is subject to backflow of sewage from the sewer, suitable provision shall be made to prevent sewage overflow in the building.
13. Proper maintenance: Plumbing systems shall be maintained in a safe and serviceable condition in relation to both mechanical functioning and health. Protection of Cold Foods
Refrigeration equipment should be capable of maintaining perishable foods at a temperature of 7°C or below. Frozen foods are generally kept at or below- 18°C. The refrigerator capacity should be adequate for the needs of the establishment so that all perishable foods can be kept under refrigeration at all times.
Food Processing Food Processing Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food for consumption by humans. The food processing industry utilises these processes. Food processing often takes clean, harvested or slaughtered and butchered components and uses these to produce attractive and marketable food products. Similar process are used to produce animal feed. Following are common food processing techniques: • removal of unwanted outer layers, such as potato peeling or the skinning of Peaches • Chopping or slicing, of which examples include potato chips, diced carrot, or candied peel. • Mincing and macerating • Liquefaction, such as to produce fruit juice • Emulsification • Cooking, such as boiling, broiling, frying, steaming or grilling • Mixing • Addition of gas such as air entrainment for bread or gasification of soft drinks • Proofing • spray drying. Extreme examples of food processing include the delicate preparation of deadly fugu fish, preparing space food for consumption under zero gravity, winemaking, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets. Food processing dates back to the prehistoric ages when crude processing incorporated slaughtering, various types of cooking, such as over fires, smoking, steaming, oven baking), fermenting, sun drying and preserving with salt. Foods preserved this way were a common part of warriors and sailor’s diets up until the introduction of canned food. These crude processing techniques remained essentially the same until the advent of the industrial revolution.
Modern food processing technology in the 19th and 20th century has largely been developed because of military needs. Using newly discovered industrial age technology, Nicolas Appert developed a vacuum bottling process to supply troops in the French army with food, which would eventually lead to tinning and later, canning by Peter Durand in 1810. Although initially expensive and somewhat hazardous due to lead used in the cans, canned goods would later become a staple around the world. Another important advance of the 19th century was pasteurisation, discovered by Louis Pasteur in 1862.
In the 20th century, World War II and the space race drove the development of food processing even further with advances such as spray drying, juice concentrates, freeze drying and the introduction of artificial sweetners, colorants, and preservatives such as sodium benzoate and saccharine. Late 20th century food processing would reach its peak with products like dried instant soups, reconstituted fruits and juices, and self cooking meals like the MRE food ration. Benefits of food processing includes toxin removal, preservation, improving flavor, easing marketing and distribution tasks, and increasing food consistency. In addition, it increases seasonal availability of many foods, enables transportation of delicate perishable foods across long distances, and makes many kinds of foodstuffs safe to eat by removing the microorganisms. Modern supermarkets would not be feasible without modern food processing techniques, long voyages would not be possible, and military campaigns would be significantly more difficult and costly to execute.
Modern food processing also improves the quality of life for allergies, diabetics, and other people who cannot consume some common food elements. Food processing can also add extra nutrients.
Food processing frequently lowers nutritional value, and sometimes toxic chemicals are added or created in the food during processing such as nitrites, or aromatic hydrocarbons. Several food additives have been found to cause health problems and some techniques alter food flavor negatively. In addition, high quality and hygiene standards must be maintained to ensure consumer safety and not all food processors comply with these standards.
Designing of Food Processing Area It is very difficult to ensure food safety and quality in badly designed food factories. The maintenance and operation cost of badly designed food factories is very high. This means, such companies are losing on both fronts i.e. their production costs goes up and the manufactured products are also of inferior quality. This all happens when the architects and the consultants involved in designing food factories gives more importance to external beauty of the building and other comforts for managers than the functional need of the food factories which are essential features of good manufacturing practices. While designing a food factory or processing unit the two basic features should be given top most priority cleanability and durability. The floors, floor coverings, walls, wall coverings, and ceilings in food processing factories can be source of contamination therefore they should be designed, constructed, and installed in such a manner that they are smooth and easily cleanable. There are various construction materials available now-a-days but selection criteria should consider the requirements of the process like hot water, acid, alkali, cleaning materials, spillage, etc. At the same time precautions should be taken to ensure anti-slip floor coverings may be used for safety reasons in work areas. Common utilities for any food factories are like tap water, hot water, compressed air, steam, electricity, etc. Utility service lines and other pipes may not be unnecessarily exposed because these can be ideal place for accumulation of dirt and dust and breeding ground for contamination. At the same time, exposed utility service lines and pipes should be installed in such a way so that they do not obstruct or prevent cleaning of the floors, walls, or ceilings or movement of goods and people when required. Exposed horizontal utility service lines and pipes should not be installed on the floor to avoid smooth movement of goods and people when required. Floor and Wall Junctures are critical points. In food establishments in which cleaning methods other than water flushing are used for cleaning floors, the floor and wall junctures should be covered and closed to no larger than 1 mm. The floors in food establishments in which water flush cleaning methods are used should be provided with drains and be graded to drain, and the floor and wall junctures should be covered and properly sealed.
All floor coverings such as carpeting or similar material may not be installed as a floor covering in food preparation areas where the floor is subject to moisture, flushing, or spray cleaning methods like walkin cold-storage, ware-washing areas, toilet room areas, refuse storage rooms, or other areas. Light bulbs should be shielded, coated, or otherwise shatter-resistant in areas where there is exposed food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; or unwrapped single-service and single-use articles. An infrared or other heat lamp should be protected against breakage by a shield surrounding and extending beyond the bulb so that only the face of the bulb is exposed. Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems should be designed and installed in such a manner that make-up air intake and exhaust vents do not cause contamination of food, food-contact surfaces, equipment, or utensils. Proper air filters and air cleaning system should be followed and properly maintained. Selection of air filters will depend upon the flow rates and quality of air required. Insect control devices that are used to electrocute or stun flying insects should be designed to retain the insect within the device. Insect control devices should be installed so that the devices are not located over a food preparation area; and dead insects and insect fragments are prevented from being impelled onto or falling on exposed food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; and unwrapped single-service and singleuse articles. At the same time devices are installed in such a manner that it should not become obstruction to the smooth movement of man and material and should not cause any harm to the employees due to prolonged exposure. The toilet rooms located in the premises should be completely enclosed and provided with a tightfitting and self-closing door. This requirement does not apply to the toilet room that is located outside the food establishments and does not open directly into the food establishment areas for e.g. toilet room that is provided by the management in the administrative area away from the food production area. Outer openings, like windows and doors of a food establishment should be protected against the entry of insects and rodents by filling or closing holes and other gaps and sloops along floors, walls and ceilings; also by closed, tight-fitting windows; and Solid self-closing and tight-fitting doors. If the windows or doors of a food establishment, or of a larger structure within which a food establishment is located, are kept open for ventilation or other purposes it should be protected against the entry of insects and rodents. Combinations of insect resistant screen; properly designed and installed air curtains; or other effective means can achieve the purpose. Perimeter walls and roofs of a food establishment should effectively protect the establishment from the weather and the entry of insects, rodents, and other animals. Very often the gardens and trees around the food factories act as a breeding ground for insects and rodents and is an ideal place for birds nesting. Exterior walking and driving surfaces should be graded to drain to avoid water logging. Exterior walking and driving surfaces should be made of easily cleanable material and should not act as a source of contamination. Outdoor refuse areas should be constructed in accordance with provisions of law and should be curbed and graded to drain, to collect and to dispose of liquid waste that results from the refuse. Change rooms provided for lodging and rest of workers should be separated from rooms and areas used for food establishment operations by complete partitioning and solid self-closing doors. All washrooms, lunchrooms and change rooms should be separate from the food processing areas and should be properly ventilated and maintained. Washrooms should be equipped with a sufficient number of properly installed sinks and plumbed with hot and cold potable water. Processing areas and areas where employees are in direct contact with microbiologically sensitive product should contain conveniently located hand-washing stations controlled by foot, knee or a timer with sensors. Clear signs should be posted in these areas, in appropriate languages, requiring employees to wash their hands. Storage area, despatch and other food handling areas should be provided with proper overhead protection. Areas used only for the loading of water or the discharge of sewage and other liquid waste, through the use of a closed system of hoses, need not be provided with overhead protection. Properly designed food factories can only provide protective covering but the role of properly designed machines is as vital as the quality of raw material. Food machines are contact surfaces in food establishment, any negligence while selecting food machines can be as fatal as selecting an inferior quality of raw material for processing.
Design and Arrangemenf of Equipment and Utensils Equipment and utensils shall be designed and constructed to be durable and to retain their characteristic qualities under normal use conditions. This is essential because food factories most of the time runs round the year and in various climatic conditions. At the same time food as well as workers safety should be the integral part of the design. Food temperature measuring devices may not have sensors or stems constructed of glass, except that thermometers with glass sensors or stems that are encased in a shatterproof coating. In order to ensure cleanability, multiuse food-contact surfaces shall be • Smooth; • Free of breaks, open seams, cracks, chips, pits, and similar imperfections; • Free of sharp internal angles, corners, and crevices; • Finished to have smooth welds and joints; and • Accessible for cleaning and inspection by one of the following methods: Without being disassembled, By disassembling without the use of tools, or By easy disassembling with the use of handheld tools commonly available to maintenance and cleaning personnel such as screwdrivers, pliers, open-end wrenches, etc. The food processing equipment must ensure accuracy for processing parameters. Accuracy is vital to ensure proper processing of foods. Under-processing may lead to serious food safety hazard and overprocessing leads to deterioration of food quality and nutrients, high cost of production due to over spending of energy and uncomfortable working conditions. In extreme cases it can be a serious safety hazard. Accuracy is required for: temperature measuring devices and pressure measuring devices. 1. Temperature Measuring Devices: In a mechanically refrigerated or hot food storage unit, the sensor of a temperature measuring device shall be located to measure the air temperature in the warmest part of a mechanically refrigerated unit and in the coolest part of a hot food storage unit. Temperature measuring devices shall be designed to be easily readable. Food temperature measuring devices and water temperature measuring devices on ware-washing machines shall have ‘a numerical scale, printed record, or digital readout in increments no greater than 1°C or 2°F in the intended range of use. Food temperature measuring devices that are scaled only in Celsius or dually scaled in Celsius and Fahrenheit shall be accurate to 1°C in the intended range of use. Food temperature measuring devices that are scaled only in Fahrenheit shall be accurate to 2°F in the intended range of use. Ambient air and water temperature measuring devices that are scaled in Celsius or dually scaled in Celsius and Fahrenheit shall be designed to be easily readable and accurate to 1.5°C in the intended range of use. Ambient air and water temperature measuring devices that are scaled only in Fahrenheit shall be accurate to 3°F in the intended range of use. 2. Pressure measuring devices that display the pressures in the water supply line for the fresh hot water sanitising rinse shall have increments of 7 kilopascals or smaller and shall be accurate to 14 kilopascals in the 100-170 kilopascals (15-25 pounds per square inch) range. In order to maintain the good working condition inside food factory and proper maintenance of the equipment, the functionality of the machines must be properly considered. Exhaust ventilation hood systems in food preparation and warewashing areas including components such as hoods, fans, guards, and ducting shall be designed to prevent grease or condensation from draining or dripping onto food, equipment, utensils, linens, and single-service and single-use articles. A cover or lid for equipment shall overlap the opening and be sloped to drain. • An opening located within the top of a unit of equipment that is designed for use with a cover or lid shall be flanged upward at least 5 millimetres. • If a watertight joint is not provided: • The piping, temperature measuring devices, rotary shafts, and other parts extending through the openings shall be equipped with an apron designed to deflect condensation, drips, and dust from openings into the food; and • The opening shall be flanged.
In equipment that dispenses or vends liquid food or ice in unpackaged form: • The delivery tube, chute, orifice, and splash surfaces directly above the container receiving the food shall be designed in a manner, such as with barriers, baffles, or drip aprons, so that drips from condensation and splash are diverted from the opening of the container receiving the food; • The delivery tube, chute, and orifice shall be protected from manual contact such as by being recessed; • The delivery tube or chute and orifice of equipment used to vend liquid food or ice in unpackaged form to self-service consumers shall be designed so that the delivery tube or chute and orifice are protected from dust, insects, rodents, and other contamination by a self-closing door if the equipment is: • Located in an outside area that does not otherwise afford the protection of an enclosure against the rain, windblown debris, insects, rodents, and other contaminants that are present in the environment, or • Available for self-service during hours when it is not under the full-time supervision of a food employee; and • The dispensing equipment actuating lever or mechanism and filling device of consumer selfservice beverage dispensing equipment shall be designed to prevent contact with the lip-contact surface of glasses or cups that are refilled. The dispensing compartment of a vending machine including a machine that is designed to vend prepackaged snack food that is not potentially hazardous such as chips, party mixes, and pretzels shall be equipped with a self-closing door or cover if the machine is: • Located in an outside area that does not otherwise afford the protection of an enclosure against the rain, windblown debris, insects, rodents, and other contaminants that are present in the environment; or • Available for self-service during hours when it is not under the full-time supervision of a food employee. Equipment containing bearings and gears that require lubricants shall be designed and constructed so that the lubricant can not leak, drip, or be forced into food or onto food-contact surfaces. Selection of lubricant is equally crucial.
Importance of Sanitation The lack of proper sanitation procedures can cost plant operators a lot of money. Often this loss is not obvious to management. It shows up in terms of customers going elsewhere, poor employee morale, unreported spoilage problems or poor food quality in restaurants. Lack of proper sanitation can cause increased returns of products, shorter shelf life, less profit and can invite the threat of possible operation shutdown. The condition of the outside of your plant is important in making a good first impression. If the outside area is unkempt, it is likely that the water supply, waste disposal, and sewage disposal systems suffer also. Regulations govern the water supply in plants that use well water. Test the water periodically to determine potability. Make sure that no back siphonage can occur throughout the plant. Generally, sewage disposal and liquid waste disposal are also governed by regulations. Plants that use lagoon systems must closely monitor the effluent to make sure the lagoon is not becoming overloaded. It is imperative that a member of the quality control team keep records of the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) as well as suspended solids and other pertinent information dealing with the effluent. The importance of dry waste disposal is often overlooked in food processing plants as well as fast food outlets, hospitals, school cafeterias, etc. Unfortunately, this is sometimes looked on as a necessary evil and very little time is allocated to the cleaning of dry waste disposal units. Very small amounts of
accumulated food debris left in the bottom of a trash container can be the food source and breeding area for literally millions of flies and other pests, not to mention multitudes of microorganisms. Use a scraper or hoe to loosen the caked material at the bottom of the trash container, then wash and spray it. This can disrupt the cycle and eliminate this particular source of insect infestation. Remember, research has shown that a single housefly is capable of carrying six and a half million bacteria, many of which may be pathogenic.
Bacteria, like other forms of life, are confronted with the critical struggle for existence. They must have food, moisture and ideal temperature for growth. Bacteria have no way of migrating from one area to another or from one person to another. This means they must be conveyed by some sort of “carrier.” If the type of conveyance is interrupted, the continuous scattering of bacteria can be controlled. This can be accomplished by utilising a good cleaning program that includes an improved method of washing, rinsing, and sanitising of all utensils and equipment after use. Write out the sanitation program of a plant in specific terms so that any new employee coming on the job can follow the instructions and know exactly what to do.
Sanitising is the process used to rid or reduce the number of microbes (microorganisms) on the surface. Sanitising cannot be accomplished until surfaces are clean Sanitising cannot be effective without a good pest control program. Pest Control is the reduction or eradication of pests (macroorganisms). These include flies, cockroaches, mice and rats, as well as weevils and other insects that can infest food products. Pest control cannot be effectively accomplished unless and until proper clearing has occurred. If no pests are present, cleaning followed by sanitising is sufficient. If, however, pests are present, they must be controlled before the sanitising step. This is because the pests will recontaminate any surface that may have been sanitised. There are five steps that should take place when cleaning an area: Debris Removal In a processing plant, use a shovel to move such items as eggshells, meat scraps, chicken parts or vegetables. Place these in containers or troughs, or on conveyors that will remove the debris from the plant. Food wastes may be removed via truck to a rendering plant, landfill, or dryer. In a restaurant or institution (such as hospitals, nursing homes, jails or schools), use a long handled dustpan to pick up solid items, paper and other trash. Never dry sweep in areas where food is on display or customers are eating. A damp mop may be used to contain spilled liquids. Place food residues in well marked, plastic lined garbage containers. Tie plastic bags shut prior to placing them in a Dumpster for removal. In the kitchen, scrape utensils of any excess food particles or burned on foodstuffs. Rinse Most food processing plants are required to have a floor drain every 400 square feet. Hose down (with water) any remaining small particles of fish, meat, poultry, vegetables, milk or egg liquids. This prepares the surfaces for the next step. Take care to avoid spraying water directly on motors and other electrical equipment. If metal bars are used to raise belts, don’t run the equipment with bars in place. This will damage the belts and possibly the equipment. Disassemble equipment, such as band saws, pipes, stuffers, etc. A thorough rinse with cold or tepid water will make the next step more effective. Remember, some proteins coagulate at 140°F to 145°F. Never use excessively hot water or steam; this would bake the protein onto equipment much as an egg sticks to an ungreased frying pan.
Cleaning is not finished until the drains are cleaned. However, use care when using water in food warehouses. Do not allow moisture to come in contact with dry goods stored in the building. Clean coolers containing wet products such as meat, fish, poultry, milk, vegetables, etc., on a regular basis. Make sure someone is responsible for cleaning and sanitising often overlooked areas, such as floor drains. Depending on the construction, the kitchen of a restaurant or institution may be treated similarly to a processing plant. If floor drains are scarce, it may be necessary to use the old-fashioned mop and bucket. Soak utensils and other items difficult to clean, such as grinders, mixer parts, beaters, whisks, etc., in 120°F water to begin loosening the debris. This is generally referred to as presoaking. Use of detergent
Some food plants and warehouses are equipped with high-pressure sprayers through which detergent is metered. The loosening action of the detergent, together with the high water pressure, removes the residue from the equipment surfaces. Another method of applying detergent is by foaming it on the equipment and allowing it to work for a few minutes prior to the next step of rinsing. Certain pieces of equipment need to be cleaned manually using brushes, steel pads, etc. In most states, restaurants and institutions are required to have a four-compartment sink. The first compartment is used to rinse off large particles of adhering soil. The second compartment is used to apply the detergent in 120° to 140°F water. The third compartment is used to rinse and the fourth to sanitise. Brush or agitate in some manner equipment that has been disassembled to facilitate removal of debris. Detergents are manufactured to do specific jobs. Therefore, make a decision on whether to use low foaming versus high foaming or alkaline versus acid detergent when consulting with the manufacturer’s representative.
After applying detergent by high-pressure spray, soak tank or foaming, rinse the equipment with clean potable water. It is extremely important that all detergent residue is completely rinsed off since very small amounts of detergent in food can cause stomach and intestinal disorders similar to the symptoms of food poisoning. In a restaurant or institution, the third compartment of the sink is used for rinsing. In the home, dishes are rinsed and placed in a rack to air dry. Water for rinsing should be 180°F. Sanitisation There are several general classes of sanitisers. These include: • Halogens — chlorine, iodine, and bromine • Phenols • Quaternary Ammonium Compounds Consider the following items when selecting a sanitiser for your particular operation: • The length of time the sanitiser will be in contact with the surface to be sanitised. If you are going to soak the equipment, then the rate of sanitising action is relatively unimportant. • The temperature at which the sanitiser will be used. For example, in the case of chlorine, as the temperature is increased, chlorine is less effective. • The amount of organic material present in or on the equipment to be sanitised. If the equipment to be sanitised contains many particles of organic matter in addition to bacteria, the sanitiser will concentrate on the organic particles and combine with them rather than the much smaller bacteria. On the other hand, if the equipment is relatively clean and if bacteria comprise the majority of the particulate matter on the equipment, then the sanitiser will be more effective. • The cost of the sanitiser. No matter how efficient a sanitiser may be, its cost may limit its application. Before selecting a sanitiser, review all considerations in order to determine the most economical one to use for a particular job. • The sanitiser’s pH. It is important to know the pH of the solution in which the sanitiser will be expected to act. Again, using chlorine as an example, we find that the lower the pH, the more effective chlorine is as a sanitising agent. Extrusion Tehchnology
Extrusion technology has played an increasingly important role in many industries such as food, feed and polymer. It has promising future. Extrusion is a multivariable unit operation i.e. mixing, shearing, cooking, puffing and drying in one energy efficient rapid continuous process. This process of High Temperature Short Time (HTST), extrusion bring gelatinisation of starch, denaturation of protein, modification of lipid and inactivation of enzymes, microbes and many anti nutritional factors. The extrudates are texturally and histologically restructured. Considerable efforts had been put for developing high protein rich extrudate from various sources, such as fish live-stocks, microbial cells and oil seeds only. But high production cost and low efficiency of protein conversion by live stock make plant protein more suitable for dietary protein intake. Thus the present challenge to the food technologists and scientists is how to present nutritive ingredients in the form of recognisable food stuffs from cheaper easily available plant sources. So the most plausible answer to use the newer food is characterised by its texture, which is determined by its micro-structure. Within technological limits the food technologist may control both the composition of starting material and processing variables to direct alteration for nutritional, textual and physical optimisation.
Extruders provide the most efficient means of converting electrical and mechanical energy into thermal energy for cooking feed and food formulations. The quality of an extruded product determines its success, failure, or product life. Extrusion processing parameters and ingredients influence the product quality. Extrusion processing variables that directly control product quality attributes are called independent variables. Changes made to independent variables affect the functional properties of the extrudates and process dates i.e. dependent variables as such. Extrusion is a new equipment which is a continuous conveyor reactor. This could be used as mixer, heat exchanger, pressure vessel, reactor, shearing device, and expander. This tool is applied in product areas such as expansion at high pressure of products. Ordinarily cereal flours, tubers and their derivatives can be processed into snack food, breakfast cereals, confectionery items and precooked modified liquefied starches. Legumes and oil cakes based material can be transformed into texturised vegetable meat extenders, meat analogues. Mixture of cereals and protein sources like legumes oilcakes can be transformed into ready-to-eat or semi cooked food with higher protein level. After oil extraction the meals can be heat treated by extrusion cooking in order to increase their nutritional value by denaturation of protein and or inactivation of antinutritional factor. In most of the cases powered raw materials of a particular meshsise are used. The powdered raw material are then sent for separation of the fine dust. The powdered materials from blending mixture are tempered by adding predetermined amount of water and mixed thoroughly to adjust feed moisture content in between. The blending mixture are then allowed to equilibriate before extrusion. In general single screw extruder are used. The length to diameter ratio of the barrel is 20:1 and screw compression ration 1:1 to 1:4 is maintained. The extruder is provided with electrical brand heaters (over the barrel) and a temperature control facility. In general the temperature of the feed and comparison zones are kept constant, while metering zones temperature varies from 120°C to 200°C depending upon the products. A screw operated feed hopper fed the extruder at a variable screw speed. The extrudates are collected when the operation is at steady state as indicated by smooth extrudate production and constant barrel and product temperature. Extrusion-cooking is recognised as a basic technology in food and feed manufacture. Different food industries byproducts such as fish meal, groundnut cake, soybean cake, deoiled rice bran, soybean seed,
fish oil with wheat flour and a binder were extruded in a single screw extruder to produce a semi-intensive aquatic food. The product quality was influenced by correct formulations of the products, proper processing conditions such as the particle size of the raw materials, moisture contents, feed rate, extrusion pressure, temperature and geometric design of the barrel, the screws and system locks. After a lot of trial the best result obtained by using a formulation containing 31% fish meal, 15% groundnut cake, 30 soybean cake, 11% soybean seed, 6% wheat flour, 5% deoiled rice bran, 1.75% fish oil and 0.25% guargum. The pulverised mixed raw materials size was minus 40 mesh and having 9% moisture content. The food extruder is considered as a high-temperature short-time bio-reactor that transforms a variety of raw ingredients into modified intermediate and finished products. The advantage of extrusion are evident, especially in the simplification of processing techniques for the manufacture of existing products as well as in the development of new or novel types of food. Previously the technology was used in the manufacture of RTE cereals and snacks. In our country it is technology has not been fully exploited in the production of aquatic food with proper utilisation of some food industries byproducts namely fish meal, soybean cake, groundnut cake, deoiled rice bran, fish oil etc. with some starchy materials. These products are cooked and formed on a single screw extruder at about 25% moisture. It is therefore necessary to dry down a moisture of 9-12% (wet basis). The product quality is influenced by extruder design, recognisable in physio-technological aspects such as residence time, shear type and level, degree of mixing, temperature development and thorough put. The present investigations were undertaken to develop a correct formulation based on food industries byproducts and to study the process parameters in the extrusion process. It will help a proper utilisation of food industries byproducts in a systemetic way. All raw materials (Fish meal, ground nut cake, soybean cake, soybean seed, deoiled rice bran, wheat flour, guargum, fish oil) were procured from local market and analysed the proximate composition in the laboratory by AOAC methods. The initial laboratory analysis helped to achieve a correct formulation of the product. All the ingredients except wheat flour, fish oil and guargum were pulverised in an industrial pulverised and passed through a sieve of 40 mesh to a horisontal continuous mixer. The wheat flour, guargum and fish oil were added directly to the mixer. The calculated volume of water was added to the mixer and mixed well for 30 minutes to get a desired level of uniform moisture content. The powdery materials were sent to extruder bin before extrusion then next to feeder.Extrusion was performed on a single screw extruder (INOTEX-100, France). One circular die was fitted in the die plate having 0,5mm clearance. The feed rate was 18 kg/minute. Food is one of the essentials for maintenance of life and is embedded in cultural and social habits of people. It is very important that the food available is safe/hygiene, wholesome with right nutritional content, free from infection/bacterial contamination, intoxication, contamination and adultration. Changes have been brought about habits-resulting due to developments in technology and for socio economic reasons, food is in increasing demand for a range of food products. Therefore Food Regulations and standards have become a sensitive subject and the regulation of the quality of the food products the object of an increasing public interest.
