Food Biodeterioration and Preservation discusses how the agents of food biodeterioration operate, and examines the commercially-used industrial methods available to control them, allowing the production of safe and wholesome foods. There is an emphasis on the equipment employed to carry out the various methods of preservation.

Coverage includes:

• the microorganisms and mechanisms of food breakdown intrinsic to various key food types—dairy, meat and fish, fruit, and vegetables
• direct microorganism action and enzymatic breakdown
• HACCP, including food safety legislation
• the principal, commercially-used methods of preserving foods.

The chapters covering methods of preserving food contain a common structure:

• theoretical background
• flow sheets of operations
• food preparation/processing equipment
• special features of hygiene
• packaging
• shelf life
• product safety

Food Biodeterioration and Preservation covers all the commonly-used methods of food preservation and is therefore relevant to the entire food manufacturing industry.

Contents

1. Control of biodeterioration in food

• A summary of the different kinds of biodeterioration
• Kinds of living organisms involved in biodeterioration
• Food biodeterioration
• A description of the mechanisms of food biodeterioration
• Micro-organisms involved in biodeterioration reactions

2. Principles of HACCP: the importance of HACCP Systems in food manufacturing

• Introduction and historical perspective
• The HACCP principles and codex (CAC 1997)
• HACCP implementation: important considerations
• The importance of HACCP in food manufacturing: the preventative mindset
• The legal position

3. Thermal processing

• Product classification
• Microbial destruction
• Cold-spot temperature histories
• Lethality calculations
• Quality attributes
• Retort systems

4. Food chilling

• Theory
• Chilling operations
• Chilling equipment
• Chilled storage
• Transportation
• Retail display

5. Freezing

• The physical and chemical aspects of freezing
• The effect of freezing on micro-organisms
• Food freezing operations
• Monitoring the quality and safety of frozen foods

6. Drying as a means of controlling food bio-deterioration

• Drying to minimize biodegradation
• Drying processes and drying equipment
• Bacteria deactivation kinetics during the drying process (in-process problem)

7. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP)

• Background information
• MAP materials
• MAP machinery
• Selected MAP food applications
• Map of fresh product

8. Hurdle techniques

• Hurdle technologies
• Predictive modelling

9. Novel commercial preservation methods

• Ohmic heating
• High-pressure processing
• Microwave and radio-frequency heating
• Pulsed electric field processing
• Irradiation

Index

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