Food manufacturing: an overview

Gain a broad overview of how food safety, quality, processing, preservation, packaging, quality management and regulation fit together in the modern food supply chain.

The convenient and hygienically packed product in the modern food store almost belies the biological origin of food materials and the extensive effort required to ensure the food is safe and palatable and to make it last. With a global food supply chain and the changing demands of the marketplace, assuring food safety and quality requires a thorough understanding of food materials, the rigorous application of preservation technologies, and the use of dependable quality management systems. Taking this as its context, this short book explains how these pieces fit together.

Aimed primarily at new recruits, trainees and students, but of interest to established personnel seeking a broader view, it describes what food is, highlights some of the technical constraints faced by food companies and illustrates how these sit alongside the established principles of food preservation. It is not intended as an in-depth review of specific technologies - rather, it provides a collection of snapshots that illustrate common principles and practices, and provides a lead-in to more detailed texts that already exist.

Contents:

• Introduction: food in perspective
• Food preservation and processing technologies
• Food packaging issues
• Food safety hazards
• Food quality attributes
• Quality assurance and quality control
• Food legislation and regulation
• References and further reading

The Key Topics in Food Science & Technology Series has been developed to meet a need within industry, education and enforcement bodies for industrially relevant introductory guides to specific aspects of food science and technology.