Food Processing

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Food Processing

Food Processing

    Throughout the history of mankind science has searched into the realms
of the unknown. Along with it bringing new discoveries, allowing for our lives
to become healthier, more efficient, safer, and at the same time, possibly more
dangerous. Among the forces driving scientists into these many experiments, is
the desire to preserve the one fuel that keeps our lives going; FOOD.
    As early as the beginning of the 19th century, major breakthroughs in
food preservation had begun. Soldiers and seamen, fighting in Napoleons army
were living off of salt-preserved meats. These poorly cured foods provided
minimal nutritional value, and frequent outbreaks of scurvy were developing. It
was Napoleon who began the search for a better mechanism of food preservation,
and it was he who offered 12,000-franc pieces to the person who devised a safe
and dependable food-preservation process.
    The winner was a French chemist named Nicolas Appert. He observed that
food heated in sealed containers was preserved as long as the container remained
unopened or the seal did not leak. This became the turning point in food
preservation history. Fifty years following the discovery by Nicolas Appert,
another breakthrough had developed. Another Frenchman, named Louis Pasteur,
noted the relationship between microorganisms and food spoilage. This
breakthrough increased the dependability of the food canning process. As the
years passed new techniques assuring food preservation would come and go,
opening new doors to further research.
    Farmers grow fruits and vegetables and fatten livestock. The fruits and
vegetables are harvested, and the livestock is slaughtered for food. What
happens between the time food leaves the farm and the time it is eaten at the
table? Like all living things, the plants and animals that become food contain
tiny organisms called microorganisms. Living, healthy plants and animals
automatically control most of these microorganisms. But when the plants and
animals are killed, the organisms yeast, mold, and bacteria begin to multiply,
causing the food to lose flavor and change in color and texture. Just as
important, food loses the nutrients that are necessary to build and replenish
human bodies. All these changes in the food are what people refer to as food
spoilage. To keep the food from spoiling, usually in only a few days, it is
preserved. Many kinds of agents are potentially destructive to the healthful
characteristics of fresh foods

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