Spoilage

13 important questions on Spoilage

Preservation pitfalls of reduced water activity?

  • Non-microbial spoilage (lipid oxidation, nonenzymatic browning)
  • Local changes in water activity
  • Product reformulation (removal of sugar or salt) that does not reduce water activity 

Sources of contamination of raw cow's milk?

  • Contamination of teats via feed, feces, bedding and soil (mastitis)
  • Contamination via feed (yeasts and moulds)
  • Contamination of feces and soil (spores and bacteria)

Measures against contamination of raw cow's milk?

  • Keep micro-organisms out 
  • Kill micro-organisms with heat 
  • Remove micro-organisms with bactofugation or microfiltration 
  • Prevent micro-organisms from growing  by lower temperature storage, lower water activity and acidification by fermentation
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Post-mortem changes in meat?

Glycolysis without oxygen causes lactic acid production, which results in pH drop to ~5.5, thereby inactivating the glycolytic enzyme.

Dressing of animal to meat/by-products?

  1. Remove hair or feathers (outside)
  2. Evisceration (inside)
  3. Wash (-1log)
  4. Chill (cold shock and surface drying)
  5. Primal cut (10^2-10^4 CFU/cm2)

Short shelf life food products?

  • Fish = high pH (no post-mortem acidification), MAP less effective (TMAO)
  • Cut vegetables = (re)contamination, ready to eat

Natural preservatives in milk?

  • Lactoperoxidase system
  • Lysozyme
  • Lactoferrin
  • Antibodies

Natural preservatives in eggs?

  • Lysozyme
  • Avidine
  • Conalbumine
  • Alkalic pH
  • Egg shell barrier

Spoilage potential tests?

  • Ask the expert
  • Challenge test = follow the product fate with spiking (contamination with organism(s) of interest)
  • Storage test = follow the product fate without spiking

Advantages and disadvantages of radiation?

  • Microwave = quick/readily available, non-uniform heating
  • UV light = no taste defects, low penetration depth/energy easily absorbed by solutes
  • Gamma rays = deep penetration/instant/uniform, consumer resistance

Advantages and disadvantages of high pressure?

  • Advantages = instantly/uniformly/little effect quality
  • Disadvantages = enzymes difficult to inactivate, difficult to scale up

Heat inactivation processes?

  • Pasteurisation (60-80°C, few minutes)
  • Appertisation/Sterilisation
  • Blanching (90-100°C, minutes)
  • Hot steaming
  • Pre-pasteurisation (60°C, few seconds)
  • Hot room (50-55°C, days)
  • Sous-vide (90°C, ten minutes vacuum)

Comparison of different temperatures?

  • Temperature can differ within a food product
  • A food product manufactured at multiple production lines/locations, should obtain the same inactivation result using different machinery

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