Exam 1 Review: Food Quality, Safety, Preservation, and Water

Vocabulary flashcards covering the core terminology, principles, and specific parameters from Unit 1 lecture review (Food Quality, Food Safety, Food Preservation, and Water).

Objective Attributes

Food attributes that can be measured using instruments or machines and expressed in numbers, such as nutritional value, microbial counts, or protein content.

Subjective Attributes

Consumer-dependent food attributes that cannot be expressed in numbers, including overall acceptability, appearance, texture, and flavor.

Major Sensory Attributes

The three principal sensory attributes of food: appearance, texture, and flavor.

Taste

A component of flavor connected to water-soluble, nonvolatile compounds detected by taste buds on the tongue, categorized into sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami.

Aroma

A component of flavor involving volatile compounds received by olfactory receptors, which humans can detect even at parts per million levels.

Difference Test

A sensory evaluation method used to identify or differentiate between products, such as the triangle test where a panelist receives three samples (two identical, one different) to identify the different one.

Descriptive Test

A sensory test that measures the intensity of specific sensory attributes, such as spice level, saltiness, sweetness, or viscosity.

Affective Test

A consumer-oriented sensory test determining whether consumers like or dislike a food product based on personal preference.

HACCP

Stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point; a preventive system implemented by the food industry to reduce biological, chemical, and physical hazards in foods.

Foodborne Illness

Illness caused by consuming contaminated food originating from any stage of the supply chain, including production, processing, handling, preparation, or storage.

Bacteria (in Food Safety)

The primary microorganisms causing foodborne illness, requiring nutrients, moisture, oxygen, pH above $4.6$, and favorable temperatures to grow.

Danger Zone

The temperature range from 40^\bar{\text{o}}\text{F} to 140^\bar{\text{o}}\text{F} (4^\bar{\text{o}}\text{C} to 60^\bar{\text{o}}\text{C}) where bacteria rapidly grow in food.

Molds

Multicellular fungi that appear as green, black, or white fuzzy growth; they produce toxic substances (mycotoxins) that can cause long-term health issues like liver cancer.

Yeast

Unicellular fungi that typically form pink patches on moist surfaces or cloudy liquid inside containers and jars.

Physical Hazards

Unwanted foreign objects found in food introduced during manufacturing or harvesting, such as glass, wood, metal, plastic, stones, or insects.

Intrinsic Physical Hazards

Physical hazards that originate from the food item itself, such as fish bones or eggshells.

Chemical Hazards

Food safety hazards that occur when the concentration of a chemical compound or substance exceeds its acceptable recommended dose.

Mycotoxins

Naturally occurring chemical toxins produced by molds in food products.

Intentionally Added Chemical Hazards

Chemical substances added to preserve food or serve as additives that exceed recommended regulatory levels.

Unintentionally Added Chemical Hazards

Chemical contaminants accidentally introduced into food through equipment (such as heavy metals) or packaging materials (such as PFAS).

Mild Heat Treatments

Thermal processing methods like pasteurization and blanching that kill only a percentage of microorganisms, requiring subsequent refrigeration or freezing to maintain food safety.

Severe Heat Treatments

Thermal processing methods like canning and bottling using temperatures from 241^\bar{\text{o}}\text{F} to 250^\bar{\text{o}}\text{F} that sterilize food by killing all pathogenic toxin-forming and spoilage microorganisms, creating shelf-stable products lasting six months or more.

Refrigeration

Preservation method keeping food at 37^\bar{\text{o}}\text{F} to 41^\bar{\text{o}}\text{F} to slow bacterial growth, allowing storage for up to a week without killing microorganisms.

Freezing

Preservation method operating between -9^\bar{\text{o}}\text{F} to 0^\bar{\text{o}}\text{F} that converts water in food into ice and causes bacteria to become dormant.

Dormant State

An inactive state of bacteria induced by freezing where they remain alive but cannot grow until the food is defrosted.

Dehydration

Preservation process that removes water content from food to inhibit microbial growth, which can alter color, flavor, texture, and oxygen-sensitive vitamins.

Concentration (Food Preservation)

Preservation technique that removes partial water content to reduce weight for transport; because significant water remains, additional preservation like refrigeration is required after opening.

Fermentation

Preservation process where microorganisms (yeast, lactic acid bacteria, molds) convert sugars into acids and alcohols, inhibiting bad microbial growth and enhancing flavor, texture, and shelf life.

Irradiation

Preservation method exposing food to gamma rays or electron beams to lower microbial load, kill insects, slow ripening, and inhibit sprouting, requiring strict labeling and zero chemical residue.

High Pressure Processing (HPP)

Non-thermal preservation method subjecting food to high hydrostatic pressure to reduce microorganisms and extend shelf life with minimal impact on sensory attributes and nutritional value.

Sublimation

Physical phase transition utilized in freeze drying where ice converts directly into water vapor in a vacuum without passing through the liquid phase.

Solution (in Water Application)

A clear formulation formed when polar substances dissolve in water, which can be ionic (e.g., salt) or molecular (e.g., sugar).

Colloidal Dispersion

A hazy mixture containing particle sizes between $1\,\text{nm}$ and $100\,\text{nm}$ that do not settle down or precipitate over time.

Suspension

A cloudy mixture containing particle sizes above $100\,\text{nm}$ that precipitate and settle at the bottom over time, such as uncooked starch granules in water.

Free Water

Water in food that is weakly held and easily extracted through mechanical actions like squeezing, cutting, or pressing.

Bound Water

Water strongly associated with food components (such as carbohydrates or proteins) via hydrogen bonding, which cannot dissolve salts or sugars and freezes below 0^\bar{\text{o}}\text{C}.

Water Activity ($a_w$)

A ratio scale from $0$ to $1$ measuring available free water in food, where values above $0.85$ facilitate bacterial growth and values below $0.5$ help preserve food.

Specific Heat

The measure of energy supplied to water that raises its temperature without causing a phase change.

Latent Heat

The measure of energy absorbed or released by water during a phase transition, such as fusion ($80\,\text{cal}$) or vaporization ($540\,\text{cal}$).

Latent Heat of Vaporization

The energy ($540\,\text{cal}$) required to convert liquid water at 100^\bar{\text{o}}\text{C} into steam, which requires breaking all hydrogen bonds in the water.

Latent Heat of Fusion

The energy ($80\,\text{cal}$) consumed when ice melts into liquid water at 0^\bar{\text{o}}\text{C}, breaking only a small portion of the hydrogen bonds.