Essential Processes in Food Manufacturing and Safety

Posted on Dec 6, 2024 in Chemistry

1) Bread Manufacturing

1. Ingredients Preparation: Mixing flour, water, yeast, salt, and optional additives like sugar or fat.
2. Mixing and Kneading: Developing gluten for structure.
3. Fermentation: Allowing yeast to ferment, producing CO2 and expanding dough.
4. Shaping: Forming dough into loaves or desired shapes.
5. Proofing: Final fermentation to allow dough to rise.
6. Baking: Cooking at high temperature to set structure and develop crust.
7. Cooling and Packaging: Prevents condensation and preserves quality.

2) Wine Manufacturing

1. Harvesting: Picking ripe grapes.
2. Crushing and Pressing: Extracting juice from grapes.
3. Fermentation: Adding yeast to ferment sugars into alcohol.
4. Clarification: Filtering sediments from wine.
5. Aging: Storing in barrels or tanks to develop flavors.
6. Bottling: Packaging for distribution.

3) Tea Powder Manufacturing

1. Plucking: Harvesting young tea leaves.
2. Withering: Reducing moisture content through drying.
3. Rolling: Breaking leaves to release essential oils.
4. Oxidation (Fermentation): Allowing leaves to oxidize, impacting flavor and color.
5. Drying: Preventing further oxidation and preserving quality.
6. Grading and Packaging: Sorting by size and packing for sale.

4) Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)

1. GHP: Focuses on cleanliness and hygiene during food processing:
  • Personal hygiene (hand washing, clean uniforms).
  • Equipment and workspace sanitation.
  • Pest control and waste management.
2. GMP: Establishes protocols for consistent product quality:
  • Proper facility design and maintenance.
  • Quality control checks.
  • Record-keeping and staff training.

5) Cheese Manufacturing

1. Milk Preparation: Pasteurization and standardization.
2. Curdling: Adding rennet or acid to coagulate milk.
3. Cutting and Heating: Cutting curds and heating to release whey.
4. Draining and Pressing: Removing whey and shaping curds.
5. Salting: Adding salt for flavor and preservation.
6. Aging: Maturing cheese to develop texture and flavor.

6) Various Membrane Concentration Methods

1. Reverse Osmosis (RO): Removes water using a semi-permeable membrane under pressure.
2. Ultrafiltration (UF): Separates small particles like proteins and salts.
3. Nanofiltration (NF): Removes divalent salts and organic molecules.
4. Microfiltration (MF): Filters larger particles like bacteria.
5. Dialysis: Used for selective separation of solutes.

7) Ultra High Temperature (UHT) Process

1. Heating food products: (milk, juices) to 135–150°C for 2–5 seconds.
2. Kills microorganisms: and spores, ensuring sterility.
3. Extends shelf life: without refrigeration.
4. Commonly used: for milk, cream, and liquid foods.

8) Food Fortification

1. Purpose: Aims to prevent deficiencies in vitamins and minerals such as iodine, iron, zinc, and vitamin A in large populations.

2. Common Examples: Adding iodine to salt, iron to wheat flour, or vitamins A and D to milk and edible oils.

3. Cost-Effective: Fortification is an economical method for improving public health on a large scale.

4. Mandatory or Voluntary: Can be implemented by government mandate or voluntarily by food producers.

5. Targets Deficiencies: Particularly effective in addressing widespread nutritional deficiencies in vulnerable groups like children and pregnant women.

9) Food Enrichment

1. Restoring Nutrients: Replaces nutrients removed during processing, such as adding B vitamins and iron back to white flour.

2. Enhancing Nutritional Value: Boosts nutrient levels to higher than natural amounts, e.g., fortified breakfast cereals.

3. Focus on Specific Needs: Addresses deficiencies specific to certain regions or demographic groups.

4. Processed Foods: Often applied to processed foods to maintain nutritional balance.

5. Optional: Typically voluntary, but may be regulated depending on regional health needs.

10) Types of Alcoholic Beverages

1. Beer: Made from fermented barley and hops.
2. Wine: Fermented from grapes or other fruits.
3. Spirits: Distilled beverages like whiskey, vodka, and rum.
4. Cider: Fermented apple or pear juice.
5. Mead: Fermented honey and water.
6. Liqueurs: Sweetened, flavored distilled spirits.

11) Various Adulterants Added in Food Products

Milk: Adulterants: Water, starch, detergent, synthetic milk, urea.

Purpose: Increase quantity or mimic natural milk properties.

Edible Oils: Adulterants: Mineral oil, argemone oil, castor oil.

Purpose: Increase volume or mimic higher-quality oils.

Sugar and Jaggery: Adulterants: Chalk powder, washing soda, or other insoluble substances.

Purpose: Add weight.

Flour and Grains: Adulterants: Starch, powdered rice, soapstone, lead chromate.

Purpose: Enhance color or increase quantity.

Spices: Adulterants: Lead salts in turmeric, brick powder in chili powder, colored dyes in spices.

Purpose: Enhance color or weight.

Fruits and Vegetables: Adulterants: Malachite green, wax, calcium carbide for ripening.

Purpose: Improve appearance or speed up ripening.