People nowadays seem very concerned about the foods they eat. Specifically, the added ingredients are unwelcomed by health-conscious individuals. Food preservatives, for instance, have gained a bad rep for the past few years, and are usually regarded as “harmful” and “unnecessary”. But it would not be surprising to know that not only are food preservatives very common in many of our favorite foods, but some scientists suggest these ingredients saved more lives than modern medicine. Those sugary sweet jams your grandmother may have pulled down from her larder each Christmas or New Year’s breakfast, or the canned salted meats that served as a backup for many early American astronauts, are actually some examples of food preservation. Individuals …show more content…
There are two major factors that cause food to go bad: microbes and oxidation. Microbes like fungi and bacteria invade food and feed off its nutrients. In doing so, they turn food into smelly, slimy and moldy recipes for a sick day at home. Oxidation is a chemical change in foods exposed to air that causes fats to turn rancid and produce to turn brown. Before the invention of refrigeration and preservation, fungi and bacteria would become close relatives of many households, causing food spoilage and widespread diseases. So science found ways to create an inhospitable environment for microbes. Some examples include increasing acidity by using vinegar to pickle vegetables and prevent microbial growth, or using canning techniques to prevent air to spoil the foods. According to the regulatory authorities, preservatives are generally recognized as safe, or GRAS, in the quantities in which they are allowed in individual food products. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates more than what can be added to the foods we purchase and eat, its oversight has, through the years, prompted acceptance of a wide selection of ingredients. The use of artificial preservatives like butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), nitrates and benzoic acid, which are all used by food manufacturers to slow …show more content…
They want delectable flavours, enjoyable mouthfeel, and top health benefits from their foods, and fortunately, food industry professionals are ready to deliver. For example, essential oils made from herbs and spices have recently become a hot topic in food production. This is because researchers have discovered that many of them boast antibacterial and antioxidant properties, as well as improve flavor. In a recent study, researchers found that cheese treated with essential oils of clove, oregano and grape seed, among several others, showed slower lipid oxidation when left at room temperature. Fruits and vegetables are also often vulnerable to the effects of processing. Fortunately, studies in food production have begun to uncover new ways to process plant-based foods that keeps them both safe and appealing. One new pasteurisation method that’s being investigated is called High Pressure Processing (HPP). HPP uses pressure instead of heat to pasteurise foods. They are kept refrigerated at cool temperatures, and are exposed to high pressures. This destroys harmful bacteria without greatly impacting covalent bonds, leading to a tastier and more nutritious final
Foodborne diseases are among the most widespread public health problems. Yet only a small proportion of these illnesses come to the notice of health services, and even fewer are investigated. In developing countries even fewer cases are counted, primarily because of poverty and lack of resources for food safety management and food control services. In spite of underreporting, increases in foodborne diseases in many parts of the world and the emergence of new or newly recognized foodborne problems have been identified (Tauxe, 2002).
Trautman, T. D., 2001. Risk Communication: The Perceptions and Realities. Food Additives & Contaminants. Available at: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=4&sid=8bac7563-bf84-485d-a852-8ddfef45 30 8d%40ses sionmgr113&hid=107&bdata=Jn NpdGU9ZWR zLWxpdmU%3d# db=a9h&A N= 5531537 [Accessed: November 22, 2013]
Everyday, the foods we eat contain a handful of ingredients, some well known, others we’re unable to pronounce. The food industry is responsible for listing these ingredients for consumers to read, but that is the limit to their responsibility. It is not required that they explain ingredients or the effects they can have on the body. After tracking my food intake, I found I only knew a handful of the ingredients. Out of the ingredients I didn’t know, three ingredients stuck out to me and I decided to research what these ingredients where made of, how they affect the body, and why the food industry included them in their products. Learning about these ingredients opened my eyes to what I was really putting in my body and the affects ingredients
Processed foods are in everybody’s lives, but are they safe? Processed foods are foods that are in boxes, cans, or bags usually containing artificial colors, flavors, and other chemical ingredients that most people can’t pronounce or recognize (SFGate). Processed Foods may taste good but can have terrible side effects. Most people don’t see the harmful effects of processed foods. Processed foods should not be eaten.
Well, for starters it is good to start with a smaller dose, for example. deciliter day, then gradually increase the amount. The kefir is radically changing the composition of the intestinal flora - useful destroy pathogenic bacteria and occupy their place, and that in some people can cause transient indigestion. People sensitive to dairy products usually tolerate kefir, because the fermentation process difficult to digest components of the milk dissolves and predprobavljaju. The bacteria from kefir break down the milk sugar lactose, so it can be used by people who are lactose intolerant. The minerals from the milk, for example. calcium, the fermentation process become easier biologically available (can be easier to use
The food that is served at Beaver Falls Middle School should be replaced with better options. Beaver Falls Middle School’s food is, in fact, inedible. If the food is inedible, then what’s the point in even making the food? Food at a school should be checked to see if it is fully cooked and has a clean appearance.The students should be able to eat the food without having the need to gag or refuse to eat it at all.
One of the effects of food mechanization is the direct illness it brings to consumers through food. The food contains deadly bacteria and pathogens that results to health problems among consumers. For instance, the presence of E. coli in corn-fed meat would cause kidney failures. “In the United States E.coli O157:H7 is the major cause of acute kidney failure among children, 100,000 Americans infected and 36,000 deaths reported yearly” (Greger). Other discerning examples include salmonella which accounts for food poisoning, “Salmonella Enteritidis-contaminated eggs were sickening an average of 182,000 Americans annually, by the beginning of 21st century” (Greger). Furthermore, the mechanization of food makes food less nutritious, thus promoting an unhealthy society. An example would be the high fructose corn syrup, found in wide range of food and beverages, that leads to a skyrocketed epidemic of obesity, “In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, in 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the definition for obesity; today, roughly one-third of the Ameri...
Equally mixed in with our foods are chemicals, yes I said chemicals. Now I am not talking about the chemicals from farmers trying to keep bugs from eating their crops. I am talking about chemicals being added into our foods during processing. Let’s take a look at what chemicals are used most often, foods they are put in, how they are affecting humans and what purpose they have for being placed in our foods. The three chemicals that I have found to be used most often in our foods are propyl gallate, silicon dioxide also know as silica and tartrazine yellow number 5 and number
When it comes to issues like food contamination it depends on how much and how far the food has already been distributed, if the majority of the products are still being processed and/or have been in stores for a relatively brief amount of time then the law enforcement can easily investigate the scene and remove the product under the guise of health inspection. If the product has already been consumed by a few people and only resulted in less than serious incidents than the government should be able to cover the cost of any lawsuits (or at least reduce taxes) for any business who are victims of this controversy. However if the contamination has already spread or is predicted to spread into large numbers of the population then law enforcement
Evaluation of chemical food preservatives for their antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus
America is a capitalist society. It should come to a surprise when we live like this daily. We work for profit. We’ll buy either for pleasure or to sell later for profit. It should come to no surprise that our food is made the same way because we are what we eat. We are capitalist that eat a capitalist meal. So we must question our politics. Is our government system to blame for accepting and encouraging monopolies?
Food safety is an increasingly important public health issue. Governments all over the world are intensifying their efforts to improve food safety. Food borne illnesses are diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. “In industrialized countries, the percentage of people suffering from food borne diseases each year has been reported to be up to 30%. In the United States of America, for example, around 76 million cases of food borne diseases, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, are estimated to occur each year.” (Geneva 2)
My food items do have an impact on wildlife and the environment. Due to tomatoes and pineapples being grown on plants, those plants need fertilizer and soil to grow. Some farmers who grow these fruits might be using chemical fertilizers to increase the amount of food grown. Since many chemical fertilizers are toxic, it can pollute the air and water. If it pollutes the water or a species’s water source, that species may die because the water could to lethal to them. Also since all three of my food components are processed in factories, trees are removed from the area to actually build the factory and to built a parking lot for the factory workers. Due to the removal of the trees, animals living in that area could have lost their habitat. Since
Food is essential in everyone’s daily life. Keeping an eye on my personal eating diets is very helpful to live a healthy life. The food diary is recorded once a week, with information of the food I eat during the day and my initial observations. My experience is very enlightening. There are evident changes of my eating and living habits, which leads me to comprehend the interactions between student life and the backstory of food better.
Energy is the essence of living a healthy life. For that, we need food that includes well-balanced nutrition. However, this could be idealistic. This is because peoples’ lifestyles have been altering. People’s past and present food consumption are different. In the past, people used to have more natural food such as home-made meals. Today, people are getting used to having processed food such as frozen food, preserved food and supplements, even though we are uncertain whether we are helped by these products. I strongly argue that we have to discover our ideal food consumption. It is time for a wake-up call for people to be concerned that our daily food has been shifting to processed food, as it’s relevant to their energy and health.