CONCHEM 4TH LESSON

• Sweeteners are the most common flavor enhancers.
• Food preservation is a process by which foods like fruits and vegetables are prevented from getting spoiled for a long period of time, and the color, taste, and nutritive value of food is also preserved.
• Drying is a form of natural preservation, examples include sun drying and commercial drying.
• Fermentation involves microorganisms, such as bacteria or yeast, converting sugars into alcohol or organic acids, examples include vinegars and edible coatings like natural wax, oil, and petroleum based wax.
• Canning is a form of artificial preservation that revolves around the use of cans/jars.
• Sterilization involves the elimination of all microorganisms through extended boiling or the use of certain chemicals.
• Cold preservation involves refrigeration or freezing, it is a form of physical preservation.
• Heat preservation involves pasteurization, which heats liquids to 160 degrees Celsius for 15 seconds.
• Irradiation involves low doses of gamma rays, x-rays, or electrons.
• High pressure processing inactivates food borne microorganisms at low temperature.
• Pascalization uses ultra high pressure to inhibit the chemical process of food deterioration.
• Ozonization involves the use of ozone, which is commercially produced by exposing oxygen to an electrical current, it is an effective disinfectant.
• Aseptic and modified atmosphere packaging involve packaging foods airtight by a commercial sealing process, it is a form of physical preservation.
• Salting is a form of natural preservation.
• Food additives are any substances added to food, they can be natural or chemical, and their intended use results or may reasonably be expected to result in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food.
• Producers use around 3,000 additives to preserve and improve food.
• Food produced on a large scale that is needed to supply supermarkets and other food shops has to be transported and stored before it is consumed, additives are used so that these foods still have a consistently high quality.
• Types of food additives include direct food additives, which are added to food with specific purposes, and indirect food additives, which are not added to food but have a technological effect.
• Indirect food additives are not listed in the ingredients list.
• Nutrients, used in foods with low nutrient levels, replace vitamins and minerals lost in processing.
• Natural food additives are found naturally.
• Thickening agents, like cornstarch, increase viscosity (resistance to flow).
• Emulsifiers, such as eggs when baking, mix ingredients together that would usually separate and maintain moisture.
• Glazing agents, like shellac, provide a coating/sheen on the surface of food.
• Gelling agents, like Jello and jelly ace, change the consistency of food.
• Color additives replace lost color to make food more attractive, restore color, and reinforce color.
• Artificial food additives are produced synthetically and are not found naturally.
• Anti-foaming agents, used in soft drinks and cooking oil, reduce or prevent foaming.
• Anti-caking agents, such as Baking Soda-Sodium Bicarbonate, prevent caking/sticking and reduce stickiness and control crystallization.
• Firming agents, used in meat products, maintain crispness and firmness.
• Preservatives (as food additive), used in foods that are susceptible to spoilage, prevent food spoilage from bacteria, molds, fungi or yeast.
• Man-made/Semi-synthetic food additives are synthetic identical copies of substances found naturally.
• Flavor enhancers or agents, also known as flavors and spices, include MSG-Monosodium Glutamate, which brings out flavor without losing the original flavor.
• Acids, Bases, and Buffers make flavors “sharper” and control the acidity or alkalinity of food (pH Control agents and acidulants).
• Stabilizers, like Agar, prevent the separation of ingredients (like flour and water).