Assignment 1

Food Biotechnology
Student Name: Arnav Chamola
UID:20BFT1050
Branch: BE Food technology
Section/Group: A
Semester: 6th
Date of Submission: 6/3/23
Subject Name: Food Biotechnology
Subject Code: 20FTT-353

Q1. What are food hazards ? What are chemical hazard affecting food?
Ans. A food safety hazard refers to any agent with the potential to cause adverse health
consequences for consumers. Food safety hazards occur when food is exposed to hazardous
agents which result in contamination of that food. Food hazards may be biological, chemical,
physical, allergenic, nutritional and/or biotechnology-related.

Hazards may be introduced into the food supply any time during harvesting, formulation and
processing, packaging and labelling, transportation, storage, preparation, and serving.

Chemical hazards occur when chemicals are present in foods at levels that can be hazardous to
humans. Contamination may occur through various pathways:

• The environment (air, soil, water),

 • Intentional use of chemicals, such as pesticides and veterinary drugs,
• Manufacturing processes,
• Addition of food additives.

In the food industry, there are various types of chemical hazards, some notable ones include:

• Mycotoxins
• Natural Toxins
• Marine Toxins
• Environmental Contaminants
• Food Additives
• Processing-induced chemicals
• Pesticides/Agricultural Products and
• Veterinary Drug Residues

Q2. How microbial parasite and viral hazard are affecting food ?

Ans. Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that exist in a range of habitats and can be free-
living (e.g. in soil, air, water) or symbiotic (e.g. in intestinal tract or mucous membranes of
animals and humans) and have a broad range of enzymatic, biochemical and/or pathogenic
properties. The principal bacteria associated with food borne illnesses include:

• Bacillus cereus
• Campylobacter jejuni
• Clostridium botulinum
• Clostridium perfringens
• Escherichia coli 0157:H7
• Escherichia coli 0104:H4
Ingesting food contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms and/or their toxic by-products
can lead to food-borne illness. These illnesses can take the form of infection or intoxication, or
both. Infectious microorganisms are detrimental to their host through mechanisms which
crowd out beneficial microorganisms, use up host resources, and destroy host tissue. A food-
borne illness caused by an infection can take days or weeks to manifest which often makes it
difficult to identify the causative agent. On the other hand, illness caused by intoxication often
occurs within hours of consuming the suspect food. Intoxications are caused by toxins that are
produced by the microorganism, either in the food itself or after ingestion.

In contrast to other microorganisms, active viruses consist of unique sections

of DNA or RNA enclosed in a thin coat of protein, and cannot exist independently of their living
hosts. Depending on the combination of DNA/RNA and the protein coating, viruses can be very
infectious and often pathogenic. They reproduce by inserting themselves into a host cell and
altering the function of that cell to replicate the component pieces that make up the virus.
Viruses commonly associated with food safety issues include:

• Bacteriophage
• Enteric Virus (other than Hepatitis A and Noroviruses)
• Hepatitis A virus

Viruses are typically introduced into food either through poor handling practices by people
infected with the virus (i.e. poor personal hygiene practices) or via contaminated food
ingredients (i.e. water).

Q3. What is food biotechnology and what is it’s importance?

Ans. Food biotechnology is the application of modern biotechnological techniques
to the manufacture and processing of food products as well as food ingredients
and food additives. Although agricultural biotechnology, such as crop breeding and
animal production, are generally regarded as food biotechnology, it is expected to
have a great impact on the agri-food industry.
For a very long time, scientists have been struggling to find the ways to increase both the quality
and quantity of food for rapidly growing population of the world. Food Biotechnology has
proven its use and importance in the industry by making enormous improvement in the quality,
nutritional content, health benefits, taste etc. in a particular food Item. Food biotechnology is
aimed to make the food items cost-effective as well. It has promised to provide safer food as it
reduces the amount of pesticides or chemicals used in growing specific food item. It ensures:
• Safety of food
• Sustainability of food
• To feed the entire hungry world

Q4. What are significance advances in food biotechnology ?

Ans. The application of biotechnology in the food sciences has led to an increase in food
production and enhanced the quality and safety of food. Food biotechnology is a dynamic field
and the continual progress and advances have not only dealt effectively with issues related to
food security but also augmented the nutritional and health aspects of food.

Advances in Food Biotechnology provides an overview of the latest development in food

biotechnology as it relates to safety, quality and security. The seven sections of the book are
multidisciplinary and cover the following topics:

• GMOs and food security issues

• Applications of enzymes in food processing
• Fermentation technology
• Functional food and nutraceuticals
• Valorization of food waste
• Detection and control of foodborne pathogens
• Emerging techniques in food processing