Food Technology: What you must know

Importance of Food Technology

Food technology is a branch of food science that deals with food production and processes to make food last for a long time. It is actually closely related to another branch of food science called food engineering.

Early days of food technology relate to some food preservation practices with the help of sugar and salt. The breakthrough in this branch of food science began with the invention of canning process in 1810 by Nicolas Appert. However, he didn’t know the principle of the canning process. So, it was actually discovered accidentally. Since then, this process has a significant impact on the food processing industry.

Food technology and related fields

Food technology has a very close association with other branches of science including biotechnology, biochemistry, quality control, process engineering, and food safety management.

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Furthermore, this technology is not only limited to food production. This technology comes into consideration from harvesting of raw material from the farm to the final food on the plate. Hence, it has a very significant role in the entire food chain for humans.

Food processing and manufacturing.

Food processing and manufacturing techniques are crucial in food technology. The ultimate goal of the processing is to reduce the bacterial load in food and increase its shelf life so that it can stay healthy for a longer duration.

The chemical, biological and mechanical process on bulky food helps to make it palatable. The convenience ensures easy availability of various types of food. In today’s fast-moving world everybody has less time to prepare food at home. Hence, there is a significant rise in ready to eat foods.

Advantages and Importance of food technology

The food technology helps to offer convenience in food preparation and handling. So, the food is readily available to eat at any time. It also ensures safe food to the plate. The technology also maintains a healthy supply chain from the farm to fork.

Furthermore, the food technology can make available some fruits in the offseason. It also adds value to raw food. So, farmers will get a significant benefit for the raw produce they have on the farm. This technology can also ensure good shelf life during transportation of fruits and food worldwide with the large supply chain.

In addition, food processing also opens new avenues in food handling and food research. The research in the food industry has significant contribution in setting up new food trends. The developed countries are the world leaders in food technology. The developed countries process 90% of the farm produce while developing countries process only 15-20%.

Furthermore, less processing in developing countries contributes to the wastage of food. Also, it has a significant impact on the economics of farming. In addition, unavailability of cold-storage chains for storing the food also leads to economic losses. Hence, the developing countries have more scope in the field of food technology while the developed counties have more scope in food research.

Food safety management

Food safety management system is a new system in the food industry that ensures safety at every level of food processing. ISO 22000 is a new set of standard, that follows HACCP principle.

HACCP means Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. The HACCP analyzes the hazard at every step in food processing and identifies a critical control point for that hazard. The system also ensures monitoring, verification and corrective action on the same set of process. The recordkeeping procedures in food safety management ensure traceability of the food. Hence, you can find the origin of the food ensuring safe raw materials at all times.

Food safety management is now an integrated part of food technology. Food safety management system has more focus on food recalls as well. This system also ensures seamless food recalls in case of any food hazards or emergency.

The modern food processing companies now employ sophisticated food safety management systems. Most of the systems are now cloud-based and ensure safer food on the shelf in any part of the world.

In conclusion, food technology is an upcoming field in the world and it will take center stage in the near future, as we all provide safe food for every stage of our lives.