Food Technology & Beverages

The food and beverages industry is all companies involved in processing raw food materials, packaging, and distributing them. This includes fresh, prepared foods as well as packaged foods, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The food and beverages industry is all companies involved in processing raw food materials, packaging, and distributing them. Beverage is any kind of liquid. We are always taking water, Water is a beverage item. Water, tea, coffee, milk, juice, beer and any kind of drinks item are listed in beverage items. Actually, beverage means any kind of Liquid item. The food and beverage service is part of the service-oriented hospitality sector. This includes fresh, prepared foods as well as packaged foods, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Any product meant for human consumption, aside from pharmaceuticals, passes through this industry.

Food preservation prevents the growth of microorganisms (such as yeasts), or other microorganisms (although some methods work by introducing benign bacteria or fungi to the food), as well as slowing the oxidation of fats that cause rancidity. Food preservation may also include processes that inhibit visual deterioration, such as the enzymatic browning reaction in apples after they are cut during food preparation. Although the traditional methods of food preservation guarantee its safety, application of these methods in food systems promotes the loss of temperature sensitive compounds, denaturation of proteins, alteration of food structures, change of colour and taste of the products, and formation of new undesirable substances. Thus today there is a growing interest in using no thermal processing methods for preservation of food products.

Food Chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods and deals with the advancement of the chemistry and biochemistry of foods or the analytical methods/ approach used. This discipline also encompasses how products change under certain food processing techniques and ways either to enhance or to prevent them from happening. Food chemistry concepts are often drawn from rheology, theories of transport phenomena, physical and chemical thermodynamics, chemical bonds and interaction forces, quantum mechanics and reaction kinetics, biopolymer science, colloidal interactions, nucleation, glass transitions and freezing/disordered or non-crystalline solids, and thus has Food Physical Chemistry as a foundation area.

Food Engineering is a multidisciplinary field which combines microbiology, applied physical sciences, chemistry and engineering for food and related industries. Food engineering includes, but is not limited to, the application of agricultural engineering, mechanical engineering and chemical engineering principles to food materials. In the development of food engineering process, one of the many challenges is to employ modern tools, technology, and knowledge, such as computational materials science and nanotechnology, to develop new products and processes. Simultaneously, improving quality, safety, and security remain critical issues in food engineering study. New packaging materials and techniques are being developed to provide more protection to foods, and novel preservation technology is emerging.

Food biotechnology is the use of technology to modify the genes of our food sources. Our food sources are animals, plants, and microorganisms. With food biotechnology, we create new species of animals and plants, for example, specifically animals and plants that we eat. These new species have desired nutritional, production, and marketing properties.
With food biotechnology, we use what we know about science and genetics to improve the food we eat. We also use it to improve how we produce food. By improvement, we mean either making the food cheaper to produce, longer lasting, more disease resistant, or more nutritional

Food Processing is the transformation of raw ingredients, by physical or chemical means into food, or of food into other forms. Food processing combines raw food ingredients to produce marketable food products that can be easily prepared and served by the consumer. The process typically involves activities such as mincing and macerating, liquefaction, emulsification, and cooking (such as boiling, broiling, frying, or grilling); pickling, pasteurization, and many other kinds of preservation; and canning or other packaging.

Food Microbiology is the study of microorganisms that colonize, modify and process, or contaminate and spoil food. It is one of the most diverse research areas within Microbiology. It encompasses a wide variety of microorganisms including spoilage, probiotic, fermentative, and pathogenic bacteria, moulds, yeasts, viruses, prions, and parasites. Microbial Food Biotechnology Research is critical for advances in Food Production, food safety, food security, value-added food products, Biochemical Engineering, Genetic and Metabolic Engineering and Biotechnology of Food Microorganisms. Every fruit, vegetable, grain and domestic animal we see today is the result of Genetic Modification.

Nanotechnology is technology is performed at the Nano scale and it can refer to the creation of new nanomaterial with specific properties or the use of nanomaterial in technology and also use of an existing technology  to produce nanoparticles. While many naturally-occurring nanomaterial’s exist. Nanotechnology advances have been applied to innumerable industries ranging from electronics and batteries to medicine and food products. In the food industry, nanotechnology has been utilized in order to enhance the delivery of food ingredients to target sites, increase flavour, inhibit bacterial growth, extend product shelf life and improve food safety. It involves the manipulation of microscopic matter that ranges from 1 to 100 nm in size. Because food and water are naturally made up of particles that are on the nanometre scale, engineered nanoparticles are able to penetrate these products easily based on their similar properties. These particles can act as a whole unit by performing similar transportation functions that prove useful in almost every industry, particularly involving food products.

Food Packaging and Preservation, explores recent approaches to preserving and prolonging safe use of food products while also maintaining the properties of fresh foods. This volume contains valuable information and novel ideas regarding recently investigated packaging techniques and their implications on food bioengineering. In addition, classical and modern packaging materials and the impact of materials science on the development of smart packaging approaches are discussed. This book is a one-stop-shop for anyone in the food industry seeking to understand how bioengineering can foster research and innovation.

Food Packaging and Preservation, explores recent approaches to preserving and prolonging safe use of food products while also maintaining the properties of fresh foods. This volume contains valuable information and novel ideas regarding recently investigated packaging techniques and their implications on food bioengineering. In addition, classical and modern packaging materials and the impact of materials science on the development of smart packaging approaches are discussed. This book is a one-stop-shop for anyone in the food industry seeking to understand how bioengineering can foster research and innovation.

Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. This is achieved through good hygiene and handling practices. Food hygiene is the conditions and measures necessary to ensure the safety of food from production to consumption. Food can become contaminated at any point during slaughtering or harvesting, processing, storage, distribution, transportation and preparation. This ensures food is fit for human consumption and avoids food poisoning, which is an acute, infectious or toxic illness, usually of sudden onset, caused by the consumption of contaminated food or water. Food safety considerations include the origins of food including the practices relating to food labelling, food hygiene, food additives and pesticide residues, as well as policies on biotechnology and food and guidelines for the management of governmental import and export inspection and certification systems for foods.

An unusual reaction by the immune system to certain food or components of food is called a food allergy. Common symptoms include itching, reddening, rashes, vomiting or even diarrhoea. Although any food can set off an allergic reaction, milk, eggs and nuts are the most common sources. People allergic to certain food must ensure that they compensate for the nutrients by consuming alternatives in their diet.

Food toxicology deals with how natural or synthetic poisons and toxicants in various food products cause harmful, detrimental, or adverse side effects in living organisms. Food Toxicology shields with various aspects of food safety and toxicology, including the study of the nature, properties, effects, and detection of toxic substances in food and their disease manifestations in humans. It will also include other phases of consumer product safety. Radioactive components, heavy metals, or the packaging materials used in food processing are examples of such substances. A food toxicologist studies toxicants in food, the health effects of high nutrient intakes, and the connection between toxicants and nutrients.

As the financial prudence of many countries are increasing, the customers have started using processed food more than the staples. As a matter of fact world-wide food processing technology business has extended to multi trillion dollars. It was reported that around, 16 million people work in the food industry. Recent improvements in food processing and technology are not only important to meet the increasing productivity demands but to adopt erudite automation, control and monitoring methods and techniques.