Principles of food safety

The subject food safety has become a discipline in its own right and a formal definition was elaborated in 1997 by CAC: food safety is the assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use.

Safety of food means safety of raw materials, of methods of processing, transport, distribution and retail. Safety of food supply is a key to the consumer confidence.

Safety of food includes food hygiene that is consisting in five key principles according to World Health Organization (WHO): preventing contaminating food with pathogens and cross–contamination by separation raw and cooked foods, using the appropriate time and temperature for cooking food as well as strong them and using safe water and cooked materials.

The key principles of the US food safety system are that:
*Foods placed on the market must be wholesome and safe
*Food safety policy is based on scientific evaluation of hazards; in particular the principles of risk analysis, and when necessary, the precaution principle apply
*Government has enforcement responsibility
*Food producers, retailers etc, are expected to comply with food safety legislation
*The regularity process is transparent for the public

The principles outline the basic needs for the food supply to be safe and nutritious - this is the fundamental purpose of the system.

Meeting this need requires improvements in farming and downstream activities, including manufacturing, distribution, food service and retailing such as that they support a healthy environment and demand fewer resources and even generates resources such as energy and water.
Principles of food safety

The principle of food rheology

By definition rheology is the study of deformation and flow of matter. Rheological properties are based on the flow and deformation responses of a substance when subjected to stress.

Matter starts to be deformed or to flow only when it is acted on by forces which may be applied deliberately (such kneading of a dough) or accidently (dropping eggs), and there is also the all-pervading force of gravity with cause ‘soft’ bodies to flow and lose their shape.

Many objective methods for measurement of food quality involve measurement of some aspect of texture, such as hardness crispness or consistency. Texture is related to the rheological properties of food, which determine how is responds when subject to forces such as cutting, shearing or pulling.

Rheological properties can be divided into three main categories. A food may exhibit elastic properties, viscous properties or plastic properties or a combination.

The science of rheology has many applications in the field of food acceptability, food processing, and handling.

A number of food processing operations depend heavily upon rheological properties of the product at an intermediate stage of manufacture because this has a profound effect upon the quality of the finished product.

From a rheological standpoint, solutions of small molecules or monomers represent the simplest food materials, which can be characterized by a single value of viscosity that is function of temperature type of molecule and concentration.

Rheology is important to the food technologist because it has many applications in the three major categories of food acceptability:
*Appearance
*Flavor
*Touch
The principle of food rheology