Understanding Food Science Disciplines: What is Food Processing?
Food processing is a wide range of methods used in food production. It covers all the production stages, including raw material selection, harvest—or slaughter in animal products—postharvest storage, preprocessing, packaging, storage, and distribution. As such, food quality and safety, financial and economic realities, environmental issues, and sustainability are some considerations when making decisions in food processing.
While technology empowers today's food companies to pursue many advanced food processing methods, people have been processing foods since the earliest days of human history. Both traditional and contemporary food processing techniques can improve food quality and taste while extending shelf life.
Benefits of Food Processing
Food processing has become essential to our way of life in the modern world as it allows for a variety of food choices, increased food safety and taste, more convenience, and longer shelf life for food. For instance, washing, trimming, milling, and mechanical separation during food processing can eliminate some of the undesirable components and harmful elements of food. While food processing is integral to our global food supply, people have engaged in food processing throughout human history.
Adding salt, sugar, oil, and other substances can also prolong the shelf life of foods and increase their sensory qualities. Some examples of food processes that achieve those types of results include cooking, preservation, canning, bottling, and non-alcoholic fermentation.
Some food processing can lead to the inclusion of additives that change the original taste or texture of the food, while others contribute to a healthy diet. There are also food processes that aim to preserve the original properties of the food and keep them safe from spoilage microorganisms.
Overview of Food Processing Techniques
Every culture in history has its own methods of harnessing nature for food preservation. For example, those that lived in colder climates froze meat while people that lived on tropical islands dried their food in the sun to extend the foods' shelf life. Through food preservation, humans could have food available throughout the seasons, even if they could not reliably hunt, fish, or gather.
Some of the earliest food processing techniques include:
- One of the first-used food processing methods in ancient times, drying allows for the extension of the shelf life of fish, wild game, and domestic animals. In addition, early humans also dried Fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
- In certain climates, freezing was the most convenient option for food preservation. Cellars, caves, and cool streams were used for this purpose.
- Using vinegar or other acids was routinely employed to preserve food and drink by lowering the pH. As such, it inhibited the growth of spoilage-causing bacteria and other microorganisms.
- Dehydration using salt was the earliest curing method. The nitrites in salts inhibited the growth of Clostridium botulinum in food. Further, some salts give the meat its red color instead of the unappetizing gray.
- Ancient people harnessed and encouraged fermentation reactions to make beer, kimchi, wine, and several other food products. Not only does this preserve the food for much longer periods, but the process also creates more palatable and nutritious foods.
Today, food producers still use some of the earliest food preservation approaches while leveraging more modern food processing and preservation methods, such as freeze-drying and refrigeration. Other more advanced techniques are:
- Canning. If done correctly, the canning process, coupled with heating, can destroy possible pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms.
- Pasteurization. This heat treatment process destroys pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms in foods and beverages. For instance, pasteurization can prevent abnormal fermentation of alcoholic beverages, milk, and other drinks.
- Freeze Drying. Lyophilization or freeze-drying involves two processes—removing moisture from raw products by sublimation and freezing them at an even cold temperature to keep the quality and safety of the raw products.
- Irradiation. Food irradiation is the application of ionizing radiation to foods to improve safety and extend shelf life. This process reduces or eliminates microorganisms and insects, thus making the food safer for consumers.
- Food Preservatives. While several curing agents have been used in the past for food processing, modern food scientists have come up with newer food preservatives such as butylated hydroxy anisol (BHA), butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT), tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), citric acid, calcium propionate, and many others.
Putting Food Processing to Work
Today, there are many food processing and preservation techniques that can guarantee the safety, quality, and palatability of your food products. By partnering with a trusted laboratory, you can identify which ones best suit your needs. With deep expertise in food safety and an array of analytical methods, our network of laboratories can provide guidance on the latest food safety regulatory needs and testing options.
