Understanding Food Science Disciplines - What is Food Engineering?
Food Engineering—one of the major fields involved in food science—is a rapidly changing discipline. The original focus of food engineering was preservation and stabilization, but the discipline has evolved to focus on diversity, health, taste, and sustainable production in recent years (Boom and Janssen, 2014).
Founded on mathematical, physical, and basic engineering sciences, food engineering intensively applies the principles of microbiology and chemistry in food processing. However, this field is not limited to these core responsibilities as it deals with the food journey from harvesting to digestion (Turhan and Tiryaki, 2021). A food engineer is involved in food production, preservation, packaging, distribution, and storage and aims to provide nutritive, tasty, safe, and premium quality foods.
As such, a food engineer must be knowledgeable about:
- Factors that cause microbiological, physical, and chemical food deterioration
- Factors that affect food quality and safety
- The effects of particular processing methods on food properties
- Optimization of food processes to reduce the cost and increase the sales
- Determination of packaging material that's suitable to protect food quality and extend shelf life.
- methods on for preservation during storage and distribution
- new product design and development for special consumers
Essential Food Engineering Concepts and Practices
Several concepts and practices provide a deeper understanding of the field of food engineering.
Food components and quality
Food safety, palatability, and nutritional value are important components of food quality. This summarizes the features and characteristics of the products that satisfy the needs and wants of the consumers.
Food processing techniques
Food processes are divided into three stages:
- The primary food processing turns raw agricultural products into ones that are ready to be consumed. An example is turning smoked meat into jerky.
- Secondary food processing uses ingredients from the primary food production into ready-to-consume products. For instance, fermenting grape juice with wine yeast can create wine, a ready-to-drink product.
- Tertiary food processing, usually done in a large-scale setting, refers to the process of producing the typically-termed "processed foods" like frozen pizza or tortilla chips.
Food deterioration and how to prevent it
Food deterioration results in unacceptable or undesirable products for consumption. This is caused by the biochemical activity of microbial populations in the food product. As such, screening for pathogenic and spoilage bacteria is invaluable in food science.
Food packaging
Enclosing food to protect it from physical, biological, and chemical contamination or tampering falls into the category of food packaging. Good food packaging prevents food washes and ensures the quality of food throughout its shelf life.
Food additives and preservations
Any added chemicals for food preservation or alteration are referred to as food additives. Often, food additives are used to extend shelf life, alter flavor and color of food, or improve its taste or appearance. Other food additives even act as supplements like vitamins and minerals that improve the nutritional value of the food product.
Food safety
Food safety is at the heart of all these food processes. Consumers demand flavorful, nutritious, convenient, and most importantly, safe food products. Food engineering and other areas in food science such as food microbiology make that possible.
Food additives are, therefore, carefully regulated by the federal authorities and international organizations. This is to make sure that foods are accurately labeled and safe to consume.
Challenges for Food Engineering
While food engineering remains a promising field, starting in the mid-20th century, it still faces several problems not just in the academic sense but also in its application. As of this writing, food engineering still hasn't lived up to its potential. Food experts at the Conference of Food Engineering 2012 in Leesburg, Virginia urges the industry to embrace the relationship of production, internal human and industrial processes, equipment, packages, and sensor/automation engineering to improve the field.
Further, the food engineering industry still lacks the human resources for its advancement. Therefore, food engineering education, funding, and additional resources will contribute to the expansion of this field.
Food engineering is still a developing field, but you can do your part in ensuring its future advancement to improve the vast field of food science. Ensure the safety and quality of your products by partnering with the Eurofins group of laboratories. This way, you'll have a complete inventory of all the food ingredients and additives in your products. What's more, you'll have accurate data on your products' nutritional value. Lastly, you'll have an overview of the microbial communities and contaminants that might be present in your food so you can make the necessary changes in product design to satisfy your customers even more.
