The Future of Food Technology

Food must be of the nature and substance expected by the consumer, especially in the content of nutrients. Food technologists carry this burden of responsibility; they must be constantly aware of potential nutritional consequences of their actions.
 
Except where man uses foodstuffs produced for his own use, food technology (as the technology involved in conveying food from land and water to man) embraces one, or a combination of, the following operations: preparations, processing, storage, packaging, transportation. This holds equally for food that goes from farmer or fisherman to market, as for the produce that is stored or cold-stored before marketing, preserving, processing, or combining with other foods in manufacture. Food technology thus embraces the farm and large-scale storage of cereal grain and produce desired as food for man. The food technologist practices his profession within a legal framework that normally encompasses all foods offered for sale.
 
Legislation has the prime objective of protecting thee consumer from deception and fraud. Food must not offer a health hazard and must be s nutritious as it purports to be. Food technologists thus became involved in the framing of food legislation, as well as in the policy of food processing practices.
 
Food law enforcement demands effective food inspection services supported by adequate analytical laboratories. The employment of food technologists in senior positions makes valuable contributions to the operation of food ispection service.
 
In the industrial countries, the achievements of agriculture and food technology, in combination with an awareness of the link between nutrition and health, have largely eliminated the classical deficiency diseases. Advances in medicine and sanitary practices have been contributing factors. It is believed that with an increase in the standard of living in the developing nations, the wider application of food technology wiill produce similar effects.
 
In developing countries a high proportion of the population lives on the land or in small communities. At the same time the cities are large and growing. It is believed that (1) the rural population’s diet will change but slowly, (2) each country aims at living on the food it produces, and (3) the number of people living on the land will not diminish in the foreseeable future or may even in crease in spite of growing city populations. The rural populations can substantially benefit from food technology in three ways: (1) production of infant food from indigenous raw materials to combat inant mortality and improve the nutritional status of the very young, (2) improved techniques of food management in storage, transportation and distribution, (3) improve technology of traditional foods prosessed by drying, salting, smoking, and fermentation.
 
To bring about these improvements, there is need for basic research as well as applied research and development in the contries or regions by their own people. This approach holds high promise to reduce food losses thus improving at economical prices. Progress in this direction has so far been unsatisfactory because of the wide-spread reluctance to change traditional practices of food management. Such advances in food technology, to have desired effects, must be accompanied by rising standards of sanitation and hygiene in order to achieve the quality of life to which we all aspire.

Food Processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw materials for food or to transform food into other forms of consumption by humans or animals, either at home or in the food industry. Food is usually clean, harvested or slaughtered and animal products used to produce commercial appeal and often long-lasting food. Similar methods are used to produce animal feed.

Extreme examples of food processing are preparing fugu fish delicate fatal or preparing food for consumption in zero gravity space.

Food processing dates back to the prehistoric ages when crude processing incorporated slaughtering, fermenting, sun drying, preserving with salt, and various types of cooking (such as roasting, smoking, steaming, and oven baking). Salt-preservation was especially common for foods that constituted warrior and sailors' diets, up until the introduction of canning methods. This holds true except for lettuce. Evidence for the existence of these methods can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek , Chaldean, Egyptian and Roman civilizations as well as archaeological evidence from Europe, North and South America and Asia. These tried and tested processing techniques remained essentially the same until the advent of the industrial revolution. Examples of ready-meals also exist from preindustrial revolution times such as the Cornish pasty and Haggis. During ancient times and today these are considered processing foods.

Modern food processing technology in the 19th and 20th century was largely developed to serve military needs. In 1809 Nicolas Appert invented a vacuum bottling technique that would supply food for French troops, and this contributed to the development of tinning and then canning by Peter Durand in 1810. Although initially expensive and somewhat hazardous due to the lead used in cans, canned goods would later become a staple around the world. Pasteurization, discovered by Louis Pasteur in 1862, was a significant advance in ensuring the micro-biological safety of food.

In the 20th century, World War II, the space race and the rising consumer society in developed countries (including the United States) contributed to the growth of food processing with such advances as spray drying, juice concentrates, freeze drying and the introduction of artificial sweeteners, colouring agents, and preservatives such as sodium benzoate. In the late 20th century products such as dried instant soups, reconstituted fruits and juices, and self cooking meals such as MRE food ration were developed.

In Western Europe and North America, the second half of the twentieth century saw an increase in the search for comfort. Food processing companies marketed its products primarily to middle-class wives and mothers work. Frozen foods (often credited to Clarence Birdseye) found their success in the sale of juice concentrates and "TV." processor used the perceived value of time to attract people after the war, including the use contributes to the success of convenience foods of today.

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Popcorn

Popping Corn or Popcorn is Corn (Maize), which expands from the corn kernel and pops up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, the kernels have a hard moisture watertight hull and an inner dense starchy carbohydrates. This allows pressure to build inside the nucleus until an explosive "pop" performance. Some strains of corn is now grown specifically as popping corn.

There are many techniques of popping corn. Large-scale of commercial popcorn machine was invented by Charles Cretors in the late 19th century. Several types of homemade at a small scale for popcorn is also available, with the most popular in the United States are pre-packaged. Popcorn has both supporters and opponents. Depending on how it is prepared and cooked, some believe that it is a health food, while others warn against it for various reasons. Popcorn can also have non-food applications, ranging from decorations on Christmas to packaging products.

Pop corn is made from a variety of corn with small and hard kernel and ears. Heated to high temperatures, moisture in the endosperm of the kernel turns to steam, creating a lot of pressure. This pressure burst outer envelope open, revealing inside the nucleus, which is now popped up and crunchy (popped corn or "popcorn"). The varieties of popcorn are classified according to their shape. The nuclei, usually white or yellow, can be red or brown, but they all turn white or yellow when they burst.

How to Buy Popcorn: Buy  popcorn from stores with a quick turnover of stock.

How to Prepare Popcorn: Popcorn is made in an airtight container. A small amount of oil and salt can be added once the cooking is finished.

How to Serve Popcorn: Popcorn is eaten plain or coated with butter, unseasoned or seasoned with salt and spices. It can also be coated with caramelized sugar.

How to Store Popcorn: At room temperature: keep popping corn in an airtight container (the kernels must retain their moisture, or else they won't pop).

How to Cook Popcorn: Cook the corn over medium heat, shaking the pot often. Once all of the kernels have popped, take the popcorn off the heat quickly so that it doesn't burn. Packets of ready-made popping corn for microwaving can be more expensive. The kernels can be popped in a specially made appliance.

Popcorn Nutritional Information:

  

Popcorn Contains: magnesium, zinc, copper, thiamine, phosphorus and potassium. Corn is a source of fiber. Popcorn coated with sugar or butter is much higher in energy than plain popcorn.

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Margarine

Margarine was first invented in France by a chemical expert named Hippolyte Mege-Mouries in 1869. The discovery of margarine is actually triggered by the situation in France at the time where the price of butter is very expensive so many people who can not afford it. This happens as a result of the influence of industrial revolution where a lot of farmers who left the farm and go for the city and work in industries. Consequently, there is a shortage of production so the price of butter became expensive because of high demand. 

To overcome this situation then in 1869 Napoleon III as ruler of France at that time held a contest and will give prizes to anyone who can find a cheap butter substitute, a replacement would have properties such as butter. Hippolyte Mege-Mouries won the competition because he was able to find what is desired by Napoleon III is a cheap substitute for butter. Mege-Mouries named his invention with margarine, the name is derived from Greek words "margarites" that have meaning "pearl". Named the pearl because the fat of margarine when forming dense granules shaped like a shiny crystal of pearls.

The characteristics of margarine that stands out is more plastic, solid at room temperature, a bit hard at low temperature, texture is easily applied, and quick to melt in mouth.

Margarine divided into table margarine and kitchen margarine . For the kitchen margarine is not required the addition of vitamins A and D. Margarine is an emulsion-shaped food products in the oil-water mixture, which is about 16 percent of water in at least 80 percent vegetable oil or fat. Fat phase is generally composed of vegetable oils, some of which have been compacted in order to obtain the desired plastic properties of the final product.

Margarine was originally made from animal fat but now exclusively made only from plant oils. Margarine practically have a calorific value equivalent to the butter, easy to digest, usually equipped with vitamins A and D. Margarine vegetable has long been recommended as a substitute for butter because they contain unsaturated fat and less cholesterol. According to one study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, replacing butter with margarine in the diet significantly lowers blood cholesterol levels.

Margarine was originally created by converting the unsaturated fats (hydrocarbon double bond) becomes saturated (single bond) through the process of hydrogenated. Saturated fats are fats that form the crystal plays an important role in determining the texture of margarine and make it stay solid at room temperature. However, the incomplete hydrogenation process are not resulting the formation of trans fatty acids which can raise the level of LDL cholesterol and depress HDL .

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms. Cheese consists of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and addition of the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses have molds on the rind or throughout. Most cheeses melt at cooking temperature. Cheese is a product obtained from coagulating and draining milk, cream or a mixture of the two. The quality, nutritional value and characteristics of cheese vary according to the type of milk used (cow, goat, sheep, buffalo), the method of production and local preferences.

How to make Cheese:

 1) Coagulation ("curdling") is the curd-forming stage, when the casein (the protein contained in the milk) coagulates in response to bacteria or rennet. 

 

2) Drainage consists of removing the water (the whey or lactoserum) from the curd and making it firmer. The amount of whey retained in the curd after draining will determine the firmness and texture of the cheese. It is during the draining stage that the curd is shaped in a mold.

3) Salting acts as an antiseptic, slows down the development of microorganisms, improves the storage life of the cheese and speeds up the drying process and the formation of a rind. Cheeses can be salted from the outside (dry salting) or in a brine bath. Some cheeses are fermented with molds to obtain a "bloomy" rind (the "croûte fleurie" of Brie and Camembert) or the veins of blue cheeses (Roquefort, Gorgonzola). 

4) Ripening (or maturing) is the period during which the inside of the cheese is transformed through the biochemical action of the bacterial flora contained in the cheese. This is the crucial stage in which the consistency, aroma, flavor and, if desired, the rind of the cheese develop (fresh curd cheeses and process cheeses are not ripened). Ripening takes place under temperature and humidity conditions that vary according to the type of cheese. The longer the ripening process, the less moisture the cheese retains, and the firmer and stronger-tasting the cheese will be.

Cheeses are generally classified according to their firmness.

 1) Fresh cheeses (unripened) are coagulated through the action of lactic acid bacteria. They are simply drained (cottage, ricotta, mascarpone, cream cheese, Petit Suisse, quark). They are not aged and should be eaten quickly. They are generally low-fat (0.1%-13% fat) and low-energy foods. They become high in fat and energy when they are made with cream (up to 30% fat, in the case of cream cheese). Several contain additives, thickeners and preservatives. Fresh cheeses are smooth, creamy or granular, with a mild or slightly acidic flavor. They are used mainly in pastries and desserts. They are available plain or flavored with vegetables, fruits or spices.

2) Unripened stretched curd cheeses are obtained by kneading and stretching the undrained curd until it acquires the desired consistency. This process gives them a supple texture. This category includes mozzarella, scarmoza, provolone, bocconcini and caciotta. Mozzarella is especially popular as a topping on pizza and pasta.

3) Soft cheeses are ripened for a relatively short period, drained and molded. Fats make up 20%-26% of the weight of the cheese. They acquire a velvet-like rind. The fermentation process begins on the surface of the cheese and moves toward the center. They are not used very much in cooking, because they lose a great deal of flavor when heated.

Soft cheeses are divided into two categories.

Bloomy-rind cheeses are covered with a thin layer of white down or mold, with a velvety appearance (Camembert, Brie, Brillat-Savarin, Coulommiers); this rind is edible, but should be removed if its taste is too strong.

Washed-rind cheeses are cheeses that undergo light brine washes (Munster, Pont-l'Évêque, Livarot, Bel Paese, Époisses). They have a delicate flavor and intense aroma. The ripening of some of these cheeses is finished by dipping them in alcohol, such as wine or beer.

4) Semi-firm cheeses are pressed, uncooked cheeses that undergo quite a long ripening period. These cheeses (Cheddar, Cantal, Reblochon, Gouda, Edam, Fontina, Saint-Nectaire, Morbier, Tomme, Tilsiter, Monterey Jack) have a dense consistency and a pale yellow interior.

5) Firm cheeses (or hard cheeses) are cheeses that are pressed and cooked. These cheeses (Gruyère, Emmental, Jarlsberg, Comté, raclette, Beaufort, Parmesan, Romano) may or may not possess a hard rind. The texture of the interior is generally firm, but can sometimes be very grainy, as in the case of Parmesan and Romano.

6) Blue-veined cheeses (or "blue cheeses") are cheeses whose curd is first broken into pieces, molded, drained, salted, then fermented with molds. Fermentation begins on the inside and moves toward the outside. A whole network of blue-green veins forms through the action of the molds, and becomes more dense over time. These cheeses (Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Bleu de Bresse, Danish Blue, Stilton) have a peppery, strong, sharp taste and usually a crumbly texture.

  

7) Processed cheeses are cheeses made from one or several cooked or uncooked pressed cheeses that are re-melted, and to which milk, cream or butter is added; they keep for a long time. Depending on the product, stabilizers, emulsifiers, salt, colors, sweeteners and seasonings may be added. This results in a soft, elastic texture and mild flavor. In North America, these cheeses are mostly made using Cheddar cheese, whereas in Europe, Emmental and Gruyère are used most. Processed cheeses have different names depending on the quantity of cheese they contain (processed cheese, processed cheese food, cheese spread).

8) Cheese substitutes are imitation cheeses sometimes made from a single milk component, such as casein, to which artificial emulsifiers, flavors and colors are added. Some natural ingredients are also incorporated (soy, corn).

  

9) Goat cheeses (sometimes called chèvre, the French word for "goat") are cheeses with a soft interior and natural rind and can be made from 100% goat's milk ("pure chèvre") or goat's milk mixed with cow's milk ("mi-chèvre," if it contains at least 25% goat's milk). These cheeses may be fresh, soft with a bloomy rind or sometimes firm. They are more white than cow's milk cheese and have a stronger flavor. Goat cheese is generally moist, smooth and very salty in order to prolong its storage life. Some goat cheeses have evocative names (Chabichou, Crottin de Chavignol, Valencay, Chevrotin). Feta cheese is included in this category, made using sheep's milk, cow's milk or a mixture with goat's milk.