Impact of Food Processing

on Quality
 Food processing

Significant effect on food properties

hence

Significant impact on food quality

Food
- becoming a global commodity

 Legislation
 Competition
Food
- connection to Health

 Beneficial v. Detrimental (“Elixir of Life”)

 “Functional” foods
 “Smart” foods
 Food Production - Components
Generation of Bio-
Recycling
mass

Products resulting Human

from Agriculture Consumption Waste

Live-
stock

Storage Process and Packaging Storage

transformation

Distribution
Quality Control Advertising
Why are most foods processed?
 To increase digestibility, nutritive and
health value
 To attract & satisfy the consumers, to
develop the food market
 To preserve foods
 To maintain or enhance the quality
 What is the Food Quality ?
-> “Fitness for purpose”
Hygienic Chemical
( Ex: No salmonella) ( Ex: No toxin)

FOOD Sensory ( Ex:

Physical
QUALITY Pleasant flavour)
( Ex: Good texture )

Energy, Nutrition,
Consumer Health Promotion
choice (Ex: Vitamins )

Convenient
(Ex : prepared
meals)
 Convenience - Ready Meals
 Convenience
 Less time for
preparation
 Economical for single
person or small
families
 Reduced wastage
 Demographic trend
 Use of the Internet
 How to ensure
Food Quality / Safety?
Quality control from “farm” to “fork”

• HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point)

• Appropriate processing methods
•Traceability and
labels
(Linked to Real-time delivery /
inventory control / management)
 Meeting the Requirements

 Safety and preservation

 Pasteurisation, Appertisation and Sterilisation
 Screening for physical and chemical
contaminants
 Adding chemical conservatives

 Modification
 Novelty, “added” properties
 Digestibility, Nutritive value
 Modifying Food Properties

• Agriculture
 Genetic Modification of
DNA
plants

• Food Processing
Production of bio-molecules
and bio-polymers by modified
genetic organisms;
transformation
• Incorporation of additives
Enhancing nutritive and health benefits
Benefits of ingesting food

Energy Building of
body
component
during growth
FOOD

DNA / Prevention or
RNA reduction of RNA /
Repair DNA damage –
“anti-mutagens”
 What is Preservation ?

• Destruction of micro-organisms
and spores

•Inactivation of enzymes
Salmonella

• Slowing the rate of chemical

reactions such as oxidation

Browning of an apple
due to oxidation
 Other reasons for
Food Processing

• Other safety reasons

• Destruction of toxins
• Improving properties
• physico-chemical
• sensory
• aesthetic
How to produce safe foods ?
 Thermal processing
 Diminution of the water activity by
 - Drying and Freezing
 - Adding molecules ( e.g: NaCl)
 High pressure
 Ultraviolet light
• Ozone
 Electric pulses
 Incorporation of additives
 Thermal processing

 95% of staple foods require cooking

 Processing by heating is “as old as fire”

 Domestic cooking

 Half of the world’s population uses solid fuel

as source of heating for food
 Pasteurisation
 First time used by Pasteur in
the 19th century.

 Heating 30 minutes at 63°C or

12 seconds at 72°C

 Destruction of the pathogen, Pasteur

food deteriorating floras.

 Destruction of deteriorating
enzymes

 Conservation of the nutritious

properties
(vitamins, proteins, flavour...)
 Appertisation
 Nicolas Appert invented
Comparison of the protein composition
it in 1810 in Fish flesh

acid amine Original Appertised

 In general, Heating Isoleucine 5,6 5,6
between 110 and 130
Leucine 8,0 8,1
degrees during 20min
Lysine 9,0 9,1
to an hour, in glass or
Méthionine 3,1 3,0
aluminium cans
Phénylalanine 3,8 3,9

Thréonine 5,1 5,2

 The results are the
Tryptophane 1,1 1,0
same as for
Valine 5,3
Pasteurisation but the
time of conservation is
longer
 Sterilisation
 Heating for 3s between  Long time of conservation
135°C and 150°C
Destruction
of some
 Destruction of all the micro interesting nutritious
organisms and enzymes properties

Milk without any heat

Vitamines treatment Milk after sterilisation
A (mg) 4,04 0,55
D (µg) 21 0,30

C (mg) 132 0,8

B1 (mg) 3,80 0,30

B2 (mg) 16,30 1,48

B6 (mg) 6 0,39
Quality Retention during sterilisation

n = log ( N0 / N )

Time n=6
n=9 Vitamin B1
destruction
10%
Micro-Organism
Inactivation
3%

Temperature
 Modelling of the effect of Heating
Input Data COSTHERM, a computer
program for the prediction
= contents of:
of Thermophysical
•Water
properties
•Protein -Temperature range :
•Fat carbohydrates -40 to 40 degrees
•Minerals -Accuracy: 10%
•Density
•Initial freezing point

Temperature Model Output: Specific Heat, Enthalpy,

Thermal Conductivity, Ice fraction
Micro- or kinetic
model
 To Refrigerate (4 - 8 C)
Slow down the development of
 micro organisms

 bio-chemical degradation reactions

What happens in a non-packaged product

Modelling microbial growth
 To freeze (-18 to -40 C)
 Decrease the
temperature below -18 C
in a few minutes, the
quickest possible.

 Stop food degradation

reactions

 Prevent the development

of micro organisms

 Long time of conservation

Cell damage during
freezing
• high solute concentration
(low aw)

•membrane shrinkage and

damage

•intracellular ice (?)

 High pressure
 Covalent bonds are not strongly
affected - vitamins preserved

 Inactivation of enzymes
 Some enzymes are modified, “hardened”
 Inactivation of micro-organisms
 Disruption of cell membrane cells - “lysis”
 Spores are resistant
 Thermodynamic effects
 Pressure shift freezing and thawing
Inactivation of micro-organisms

Inactivation of enzymes
 Ionisation
 Creation of ions in the irradiated food,
by an gamma or electron beams

 Maximum dose: 10 kGy

 Destruction of the pathogen, food

deteriorating floras.

 Destruction of deteriorating enzymes

Logo of ionized food
 Conservation of the nutritious
properties (vitamins, proteins, flavour, except
lipids...)

 Consumer resistance
 Electric pulses

 Same action high

pressure and
heating

 Disruption of the cell

membrane
 Electroporation Schematic configurations of the three most
used PEF treatment chambers
Dependence of microbial survival fraction on the A)
electric field and B) treatment time. Curves a correspond
to resistant micro-organisms and curves b to sensitive
micro-organisms S, survival fraction; N, microbial
count; E, electric field; b, kinetic constant; t, time.
Subscripts: 0, initial; c, critical; t, time; e, electric field
 Incorporation of additives

 butylated hydroxytoluene (in some potato chips,

salted peanuts, breakfast cereals and many other
things)

 calcium disodium ethylene diamine tetra acetate

(in salad dressings and some drinks)

 sodium L-ascorbate (a form of vitamin C)

 E-numbers
 Incorporation of Salt - NaCl
 Ubiquitous
 natural presence and a major additive

 Preservation by lowering Aw

 Possible raising of blood pressure

 Tendency to decrease salt content NaCl Structure

 High Pressure Treatments can assist

 Anti Oxidants
 Diseases
 Cancer

 Cardiovascular

 Neurological

 Antioxidants
 L-ascorbic acid

 Carotenoids

 Flavonoids & other polyphenolic

compounds
 Examples of widely used preservatives in the EU

E-Number Substance / class Some foodstuffs in which they are used

E 200-203 Sorbic acid and Cheese, wines, dried fruit, fruit sauces,
sorbate compounds toppings

E 210-213 Benzoic acid, Pickled vegetables, low sugar jams and

jellies, candied fruits, semi preserved
and benzoate fish products, sauces

E 220-228 Sulphur dioxide and Dried fruits, fruit preserves, potato

sulphite products, wine

compounds
E 235 Natamycin Surface treatment of cheese and
sausage
 Anti oxidant properties

 Relatively unstable

 Processing or storage can improve

antioxidant activity – e.g. polyphenols at an
intermediate oxidation state can scavenge
radicals more than in non-oxidised state
 Additive Free Foods

 Salt – mainly as a flavour enhancer in

western world

 Nitrites

 Phosphates

 Monosodium Glutamate
 Packaging
 Most foods are packaged
 Hygiene

 Stability of the product

 Storage container

 Presentation to the consumer

 Discarded packaging
 Waste

 Recycling
 Edible packaging
 Film and coatings based on:
 Polysaccharides
 Cellulose, starches, gums
 Lipids
 Cocoa butter, waxes
 Proteins
 From milk, soya, cereals

 Functions
 barrier for moisture, oxygen, fat (b. layers)
volatiles
 Can carry antioxidants and antimicrobials
 Example of specific packagings
 For the food degraded by
oxidation (Ex: Fruits)

 Packaging with modified

atmosphere:
 Less oxygen
 More carbon dioxide
 Well defined humidity

•Packaging with controlled Modified atmosphere

packaging
atmosphere ( All the parameters
are well known and are monitored) to extend shelf life.

•Vacuum Packaging( No
Oxidation)
 Sensors for Food Quality

 Imaging (computer vision)

 Classification, Inspection

 Density
 Viscosity

 Spectroscopic Techniques
 Biosensors / Immunosensors
 Bio-processing – Added Value
Products
 Functional Foods

 Interface to Pharmaceuticals

 Bio-separation of biomolecules
 Immunoglobulins
 Purification of proteins from blood serum
Example - Functional Foods
- Purdue University

• By changing chicken feed supplements

developed

•Eggs that include more of two”good” fats,

•conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and
•docosahexaenoic acid, a type of omega-3
fatty acid.
 Conclusions

 Food processing
 Essential for human well-being and health
 Influenced by the state of the society
 Driven by
 consumer demand
 Understanding of the connection between food,
nutrition and health

 New physico-chemical processes

 Genetic modification
Thank you for your
attention