Principles of Food Preservation

A good method of food preservation is one that slows down or prevents altogether
the action of the agents of spoilage. Also, during the process of food preservation, the food
should not be damaged. In order to achieve this, certain basic methods were applied on
different types of foods. For example in earlier days, in very cold weather condition, ice was
used to preserve foods. Thus, very low temperature became an efficient method for
preventing food spoilage. Let us now list the principles of food preservation.
1. Removal of micro-organisms or inactivating them: This is done by removing air,
water (moisture), lowering or increasing temperature, increasing the concentration of salt or
sugar or acid in foods. If you want to preserve green leafy vegetables, you have to remove
the water from the leaves so that micro organisms cannot survive. You do this by drying the green leaves till
all the moisture evaporates.
2. Inactivating enzymes: Enzymes found in foods can be inactivated by changing their
conditions such as temperature and moisture, when you preserve peas, one of the methods
of preservations is to put them for a few minutes in boiling water. This method also known
as blanching inactivates enzymes and thus, helps in preserving the food.
3. Removal of insects, worms and rats: By storing foods in dry, air tight containers the
insects, worms or rats are prevented from destroying it.
Control Control of microorganisms • Heat • Cold • Drying • Acids • Sugar and salt • Oxygen concentration •
Smoke • Radiation • Chemicals (preservatives) Control of enzymes

Food Processing
Food processing is a way or technique implemented to convert raw food stuff into well-cooked and well
preserved eatables for both the humans and the animals. All these methods are used by food processing
industry to give out processed or preserved foods for our daily consumption. Best quality harvested,
slaughtered and butchered and clean constituents are used by food processing industry to manufacture very
nutritious and easy to cook food products. Following are some techniques and methods used to convert food
into processed or preserved food.

Preservation process: this includes heating or boiling to destroy micro-organisms, oxidation, toxic inhibition,
dehydration or drying, osmotic inhibition, freezing, a sort of cold pasteurization which destroys pathogens
and various combinations of all these methods.

Drying: this is probably the most ancient method used by humans to preserve or process their food. Drying
reduces the water content in the product and lack of water delays the bacterial growth very much. Drying is
the most common technique to preserve or process cereal grains like wheat, maize, oats, rice, barley, grams
and rye etc.

Smoking: many foods such as meat, fish and others are processed, preserved and flavored by the use of
smoke mostly in big smoke houses. This process is very simple as the combination of smoke to preserved
food without actually cooking it and the aroma of hydro-carbons generated from the smoke processes the
food and makes it even tastier to eat.

Freezing: probably, it is the most common technique used in modern world to preserve or process the food
both on commercial and domestic basis. This freezing is conducted in big cold storages which can stockpile
huge amount of food stuffs which can be further used in some natural emergencies. A very big range of
products can be frozen to preserve and process which includes some which do not need freezing when are in
their natural condition. For example potato chips and potato wafers requires freezing whereas a potato does
not.

Vacuum packs: in this method, food is packed in airtight bags and bottles in a vacuum area. This method is
used in processing the food as the air-tight environment doesn’t provide oxygen needed by germs
especially bacteria to survive. This then, prevents food from getting rotted. This method is very commonly
used for preserving processed nuts.

Salting: the method of salting is used in food processing as it sucks out the moisture from the food. This is
done through the process of osmosis. Meat is the best example of the food processed by salting as nitrates
are used very frequently to treat meat.

Sugaring: the method of using sugar to preserve or process food is very frequent where it comes to preserve
fruits. In this method fruits such as apples, peaches and plums are cooked with sugar until they are
crystallized and then it is stored dry. Now days, sugar is also used in combination of alcohol to make some
branded alcohol and spirits.

Pickling: in this method of preserving or processing food, food is cooked in chemicals and materials which
destroy micro-organisms. This is very strictly kept in mind that these chemicals or materials are fit to eat for
humans. Normally, these include brine, vinegar, ethanol, vegetable oil and many other types of oils. Pickling
is very commonly seen in vegetables such as cabbage and peppers. Corned beef and eggs are the non
vegetarian eatables that are pickled.

These are some very common methods of preserving or processing food. These all will work only when
processing and preserving is done under very strict rules and regulation set by the governments.

https://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/meals/food/common_methods_of_processing_and_preservi
ng_food.html

Food Waste Management

How is it recycled?
Many councils now collect food waste, which can be recycled in several ways including:

 In-vessel composting involves mixing food waste with garden waste – shredding it and then
composting it in an enclosed systemfor around 2-4 weeks (temperatures of up to 70°C speed up the
process and ensure any harmful microbes are killed off). The material is then left outside to mature
 for a further 1-3 months with regular turning and checks to ensure quality before going on to be used
as soil conditioner.
 Anaerobic Digestion uses microorganisms to break down food waste, animal manure, slurries and
energy crops in the absence of oxygen, inside an enclosed system. As it breaks down it gives off
methane, which is collected and converted into biogas and used to generate electricity, heat or
transport fuels. It also creates a nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as a fertiliser for agriculture
and in land regeneration.

Issues and solutions

 Don't forget to make the most of your food and drink and try to avoid wasting food in the first place.
 A food waste caddy in your kitchen can help you to separate out your food waste for recycling and
composting. This can be emptied into your compost bin or council food waste bin every couple of
days.
 Your council may recommend that you line your food waste caddy with a liner or newspaper. Only
use liners that are recommended by your council as some may not break down in the composting
process.
 Where possible keep your bins out of direct sunlight and keep the bin lid closed.

https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/how-is-it-recycled/food-waste

Alternative Food
1.Beyond Meat

Ethan Brown, the founder of Beyond Meat, is on a mission to convince people there is a better way to feed
the planet. The challenge is persuading consumers that ‘meat’ can be defined by its chemical constituents,
rather than whether it actually came from a live cow pig or chicken.

Far removed from most nasty-tasting veggie burgers, his company creates meat from plants. Yes, the animal
protein we get from meat is substituted by those that can be garnered from plants – something the business
says does wonders for human health, for the environment, for conservation of natural resources and for
animals.

And Ethan is having success. The company’s range of products – including ‘Beast Burgers’ made with non-
GMO soy and pea protein – are now stocked in thousands of stores across the US, and sales are doubling
every year.

2. Exo

In 2013, Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz ordered 2,000 live crickets to be delivered to their student house at
Brown University campus. Armed with some sketchy Google research, a vague recipe for cricket flour, an
oven and a blender, they got to work on creating a food product using insects that actually tasted good.

Six years on and Exo, the pair’s business, is going from strength to strength on the back of their range of
protein bars made with cricket flour – which is not as mad as it sounds given that 80 per cent of the world’s
population regularly munches on insects.

3. Kuli Kuli

Lisa Curtis stumbled across the moringa plant while working as a peace corp volunteer in Niger, in West
Africa. As a vegetarian, she was surviving on meagre portions of rice and little else and felt sluggish and
lacking in nutrients. The local women encouraged her to add moringa extracts to her diet. She soon felt great.
The rest is history.
On her return to the US she founded Kuli Kuli, her own brand of energy bars and health shots that make use
of moringa as the ultimate superfood. The health benefits of the plant speak for themselves; 15 times more
potassium than bananas, 17 times more calcium than milk, 25 times more iron than spinach.

But it is what Lisa and her team are doing to support smallholder farmers in places like Haiti that is most
impressive. By scaling up the business, Kuli Kuli is supporting the development of brand new moringa
plantations, creating new revenue streams for local communities and sustaining the livelihoods of thousands
across the developing world in the process.

4. Ripple Foods

One of the men behind Ripple Foods is Adam Lowry, the co-founder of Method, the green cleaning
products business that sold out to Ecover a few years back. Now, he’s back, this time with two feet firmly in
the alternative food market.

Bemoaning the fact that kids are overfed, undernourished and deficient in vitamin D and calcium, the
business has developed a protein-rich alternative to milk using processed peas. Ripple products have eight
times the protein of almond milk and half the sugar of dairy milk. They are also high in bio-available
calcium (50 per cent more than milk), potassium and provide a good source of omega 3s.

Oh, and best of all, they have the creamy texture that many dairy-free drinkers really miss. And just think
about the negative environmental impacts of dairy farming that Ripple is working around.

5. Toast

Toast Pale Ale wants to put itself out of business. You see, it uses leftover bread that would otherwise be
thrown out by bakeries everywhere to make beer. The moment bread is not wasted it will cease to exist, it
says.

Strictly speaking, Toast is not producing an alternative foodstuff – its recipe still makes use of traditional
barley, hops, yeast and water (the toast is said to add caramel notes that balance the bitter hops, giving a
malty taste similar to amber ales).

But the company is tackling a huge environmental problem. With 15 million tonnes of food thrown away
every year in the UK – and 44 per cent of all bread produced ending up in the bin – Toast is doing its best to
solve the problem by gathering up surplus bread from delis, bakeries and sandwich makers everywhere,
crushing it into breadcrumbs and adding it to its production process.