FOOD PRESERVATION People have been preserving food since ancient times.

Since they did not have the technology to preserve food like we do now, they may have used methods like smoking, drying, canning, salting, boiling and pickling. This may have taken up most of their time. These techniques have been around for thousands of years On really hot and humid days they would set the meat outside so it would dry. By drying the meat, they could take out the moisture so that it would be harder for it to spoil . In the early 1700's, the Dutch Navy preserved meat by putting it in a can with hot fat and then sealing it.. In 3500 BC, the Chinese would salt their fish to make it last (science clarified). Salt slows down the growth of bacteria. Pickling is a procedure that was used in ancient times as well. To pickle a food they would put it in a jar with vinegar like substance (Wikipedia.org). Meat was also boiled to kill diseases and bacteria. In some places of the world they would store food outside in the winter as a means of preservation . Ice houses were invented in Persia to store ice throughout the year. An inscription was discovered in Iran in 1700 BC. Even Alexander the Great stored snow in great pits that were dug into the ground to slow down the melting. In the third century AD in Rome, snow was brought down from the mountains in the winter, stored in pits and sold at ice shops . The first known artificial refrigeration was invented by William Cullen in 1748. Oliver Evens, an American inventor, created a refrigeration machine in 1834. By the late 1920's three American companies discovered Freon. This became the standard for home kitchens. The term refrigerator was made up by, Thomas Moore, and engineer Food preservation traditionally has three goals: the prolongation of nutritional characteristics, the preservation of appearance, and a prolongation of the time that the food can be stored. Traditional methods of preservation usually aim to exclude air, moisture, microorganisms. Or to provide environments in which organisms that might cause spoilage cannot survive. These chemicals are traditionally called artificial preservatives (AP). AP's can be also be called food additives. In 1938, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act defined them as, any substance, the intended use of which results directly or indirectly, in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of food. Food preservation is more important than ever because the world's population continues to grow but fewer people are growing their own food . These days' consumers expect to be able to buy whatever they want even when it is out of season The basic additives that anyone should learn about are preservatives, antioxidants, emulsifiers, stabilizers, flavorings, and colorings. Preservatives are the most important additives. Preservatives keep mold and bacteria from growing so that food will not go bad. Because of preservatives, we can store our food for a long time. Antioxidants help food from decaying when it's exposed to oxygen. Two popular antioxidants are BHA and BHT. These are chemical antioxidants that keep oily food from spoiling. Emulsifiers and stabilizers are added to foods to keep them from separating. Two popular chemical additives in this category are propylene glycol and polysorbates. The average American will eat 150 pounds of additives in a year. The FDA is always testing different preservatives, but not all of them are sage for everyone all of the time. In the United States, 95% of food color is artificial. Many countries restrict certain colorings. For example, Norway does not allow artificial colors in their food. Some people are afraid that artificial preservatives are making them sick. The FDA does its best but people may not trust them because they might change their minds in the future. Sulphates are chemical preservatives primarily used to keep food from turning brown. People with asthma should avoid sulphates because it can cause a severe asthma attack. When reading the label, people should look for the word, sulphate. Whether or not a person wants to eat additives is up to them. Sometimes they are healthy and sometimes they are not. It is up to each individual to educate themselves about AP's and make the choice that is best for them.

HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PACKAGED FOOD Food packaging should: 1) Contain the food.2) Able to protect the food from rough handling, transport and biotic factors ( animals and insect attacks) .3) Protect the food from chemical and microbial spoilage. 4) Able to influence the consumers to make a buying decision. Whenever a company design a food package, the above mentioned considerations are given importance. They never think of bad consequences. Maybe they are thinking of it but never mind to take proper actions. Some of the bad impacts of packaging materials are: 1) Bisphenol A / BPA. This chemicals are leached out from carbonate plastics. Plastics with the recycling symbol of 7. This is an endocrine disruptor that might result to variety of problems. 2) DEHP. Yet another substance that leach out from polyvinyl chloride, PVC, packaging materials. Intake might result to reproductive problems, diabetics, obesity, acute toxicity and heart disorders. 3) Pollution. Staying in Manila Bay is enjoyable only at night. Daytime is the reverse. The sea has dark color and have a lot of floating garbage. Examine them and you will notice that most are food packaging such as chip bags, styrofoam boxes, pet bottles, coffee and juice cups and drinking straws. Consuming public lack discipline, just throwing packages anywhere. 4) Forest denudation. Packaging manufacture requires cutting lots of trees and mining of minerals. 5) Extinction of land and water species. Polluted water bodies and denuded forest are not the fit environment for many living organisms. Those that cannot withstand harsh conditions face the reality of extinction. 6) Land slides and flash floods. Trees hold soil. When cut, soil particles are loosened and cause landslides during heavy rains. Most packaging materials are non-biodegradable. They clogged canals and other waterways. Combination of heavy rains, denuded forest and clogged waterways will result to flash floods. Packaged foods tend to aggravate the problems of those of suffering from kidney problems and disorders by almost 50%. As per the research reports, the preservatives used in the packaged foods, like salts and phosphorous, are harmful for kidney patients and those suffering from the problem should curb the usage of such products as far as possible. Harmful Effects of Food Acids in Packaged Foods Food acid content in these packaged foods is quite high. Usually these food acids act as antioxidants and preservatives for the packaged food items, and are therefore used in all kinds of packaged foods. These food acids needs to be separated from the useful acid intake. This separation procedure calls for filtering of these liquids by the kidney. A lot of waste food acids put load on the kidney. Specially for those suffering from kidney problems should take extra caution to not consume packaged foods. Doctors advise a healthy fresh food diet for the kidney patients, instead of resorting to the no-nutrient packaged food alternatives. Swelling in the limbs and an increase in the blood pressure are also a few of the ailments associated with packaged foods. In the longer run the artificial constituents of these processed and packaged foods tend harm the regular working of the kidneys. Otherwise also, packaged food consumption might result in a lot of other types of health hazards in the longer run.