Effects of Food Processing

on the Nutrients in Foods

 Many consumers rely on packaged

and processed foods for convenience
and speed
Lose control over what foods contain
Food processing involves trade-offs
Makes food safer, or gives food a longer
useable lifetime, or cuts preparation time
At cost of some vitamin and mineral losses

 Most forms of processing aim to

extend the usable life of a food
To preserve a food, a process must
prevent three kinds of events
Microbial growth
Oxidative changes
Enzymatic destruction

Canning
A method of preserving food by killing
all microorganisms present in the food
and then sealing out air
The food, container, and lid are heated
until sterile
As the food cools, the lid makes an airtight
seal, preventing contamination

Do Canned Foods
Lose Nutrients?

Fat-soluble vitamins and most minerals

are relatively stable
Not affected much by canning

Three vulnerable water-soluble vitamins

Thiamin
Riboflavin
Vitamin C

Do Canned Foods
Lose Nutrients?

Some minerals are added when

foods are canned
Important in this respect is sodium
chloride, salt, which is added for
flavoring

Freezing
A method of preserving food by
lowering the foods temperature to a
point that halts life processes
Microorganisms do not die but remain
dormant until the food is thawed
Dramatically slows enzymatic reactions

Freezing
Frozen foods may have a nutrient
advantage over fresh
Fresh foods are often harvested unripe
Frozen foods are first allowed to ripen
in the field
Allows the food to develop nutrients to their
fullest potential

Drying
A method of preserving food by
removing sufficient water from the
food to inhibit microbial growth
Eliminates microbial spoilage
Microbes need water to grow

Reduces the weight and volume of

foods
Foods are mostly water

Drying
Commercial drying does not cause
major nutrient losses
Foods dried in heated oven at home
may sustain dramatic nutrient losses
Vacuum puff drying and freeze drying
Take place at cold temperatures
Conserve nutrients especially well

Extrusion
A process by which the form of a
food is changed
Such as changing corn to corn chips

Not a preservation measure

In this process, the food is heated,
ground, and pushed through various
kinds of screens to yield different
shapes

 Results in considerable nutrient

losses
Nutrients are usually added to
compensate
Foods this far removed from the original
state are still lacking significant nutrients
(notably vitamin E) and fiber

Food Additives
Substances that are added to foods
but are normally not consumed by
themselves as foods

Food Additives
Compared with unregulated and
untested dietary supplements sold
directly to consumers, the 3,000
food additives in the U.S. are strictly
controlled and pose little cause for
concern

 Manufacturers use food additives to give

foods desirable characteristics
Color
Flavor
Texture
Stability
Enhanced
nutrient
composition
Resistance to
spoilage

Regulations Governing
Additives

The FDA has the responsibility for

deciding what additives shall be in foods
To obtain permission to use a new additive
in food products, a manufacturer must test
the additive and satisfy the FDA that
It is effective
It can be detected and measured in the final
food product
It Is safe for consumption

The GRAS List

Many substances were exempted
from complying with the FDA
procedure when it was first instituted
because they had been used for a
long time and their use entailed no
known hazards
Some 700 substances were all put on
the generally recognized as safe
(GRAS) list

Additives must not be used

In quantities larger than those necessary
to achieve the needed effects
To disguise faulty or inferior products
To deceive the consumer
Where they significantly destroy nutrients
Where their effects can be achieved by
economical, sound manufacturing
processes

Antimicrobial Agents

Preservatives that protect food from the

growth of microbes that can spoil the
food and cause foodborne illnesses

Antimicrobial Agents
Salt and Sugar
The best-known and most widely used
antimicrobial substances
Salt is used to preserve meat and fish
Sugar preserves jams, jellies, ad
canned and frozen fruits
Both work by withdrawing water from
the food
Microbes cannot grow without water

Antimicrobial Agents
Nitrites
Added to meats and meat products to
Preserve their color
Enhance their flavor
Protect against bacterial growth

How Do Antioxidants
Protect Food?

Food can go bad when it undergoes

changes in color and flavor caused by
exposure to oxygen in the air
(oxidation)
Often these changes involve little hazard to
health
But they damage the foods appearance, taste,
and nutritional quality

Antioxidant preservatives protect food from

this kind of spoilage

 Examples of common antioxidant

additives
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
(tocopherol)
Sulfites
BHA and
BHT

 Sulfites
Prevent oxidation in many processed foods,
alcoholic beverages, and drugs
Were used to keep raw fruits and
vegetables in salad bars looking fresh
Practice was banned after a few people
experienced dangerous allergic reactions to the
sulfites
FDA now prohibits sulfite use on food meant to
be eaten raw
With the exception of grapes

 BHA and BHT

Prevent rancidity in baked goods and
snack foods

Artificial Colors
Only about 10 of an original 80
synthetic color additives are still on
the GRAS list
Among the most intensively
investigated of all additives, artificial
colors are much better known than the
natural pigments of plants

 Food colorants only make foods

pretty
Other additives, such as preservatives,
make foods safe
With food colors we can afford to
require that their use entail no risk
With other food additives, we must weigh
the risks of using them against the risks of
not using them

 Close to 2,000 artificial flavors and

enhancers are approved
Safety evaluation of flavoring agents is
problematic because so many are
already in use
The flavors are strong and are used in
tiny amounts unlikely to impose risks
And they occur naturally in a wide variety
of foods

Incidental Food Additives

Are really contaminants from some
phase of production, processing,
packaging, or consumer preparation
Include tiny bits of plastic, glass, paper,
tin and the like from packages and
chemicals from processing, such as
solvents used to decaffeinate some
coffees

Nutrient Additives
Include
Enrichment nutrients added to refined
grains
Iodine added to salt
Vitamins A and D added to dairy
products
Nutrients used to fortify breakfast
cereals

REMEMBER
The more heavily processed foods are
the less nutritious they become