Microorganisms, as a kind of living thing in nature, have a close relationship with the food we depend on for survival. Microorganisms play a vital role in the production of many foods, but they are also the culprit responsible for food spoilage. Therefore, the relationship between microorganisms and food must be properly handled.
The role of microorganisms in food production:
Many foods we eat every day are produced through the action of microorganisms. For example, vinegar is made from grains and other starches as raw materials, and is brewed through the stages of microbial koji making, saccharification, alcohol fermentation, and acetic acid fermentation; fermented dairy products are made of good raw milk that is sterilized and inoculated with specific microorganisms for fermentation. , Produce foods with special flavor; beer is made from high-quality barley malt as the main raw material, rice, hops, etc. as auxiliary materials, and is brewed through the processes of malting, saccharification, and brewer’s yeast fermentation. It contains carbon dioxide, low alcohol, and Beverage wine with a variety of nutrients.
There are many other foods of this kind. It can be seen that microorganisms play a very important role in food production. At the same time, one of the important causes of food spoilage is contamination by microorganisms.
Microorganisms and food spoilage:
Food can be contaminated by exogenous and endogenous microorganisms before, during, and after processing. Microorganisms that contaminate food include bacteria, yeasts, and molds, as well as the toxins produced by them. There are also many ways of pollution, which can directly or indirectly contaminate food processing through the soil where raw materials grow, processing water, ambient air, staff, processing utensils, sundries, packaging, transportation equipment, storage environment, and insects, animals, etc. Raw materials, semi-finished products, or finished products. Therefore, it is very likely that spoilage of many foods has occurred during the processing or just after packaging, and has become foods that do not meet the food hygiene quality standards. During food processing, cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization, as well as baking, frying and other processes can significantly reduce the types and numbers of microorganisms in food, or even completely kill them. However, due to differences in the physical and chemical state of food raw materials, food processing methods, and the degree of microbial contamination of the raw materials, they will affect the microbial survival rate in processed food.
The conditions for microbes to cause food spoilage and deterioration: 1. The food itself is rich in nutrients, and various proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and inorganic salts are present, but the proportions are different. If there is a certain amount of moisture and temperature, it is very suitable for the growth and reproduction of microorganisms. 2. The temperature of the environment where the food is located. When the environment is low temperature, it will obviously inhibit the growth and metabolism of microorganisms, thus slowing down the spoilage caused by microorganisms. When the food is in a high-temperature environment, if the temperature exceeds the high limit that the microorganisms can tolerate, the microorganisms will die quickly. If the temperature is below the suitable growth temperature, the growth of microorganisms will accelerate as the temperature increases, and the spoilage of food will also accelerate. 3. Humidity of the environment where the food is located. High humidity, on the one hand, is conducive to the growth and reproduction of microorganisms; on the other hand, it is conducive to the life activities of microorganisms, and will not cause cell bodies to lose water and shrink due to low humidity.
Measures to reduce microbial contamination of food:
According to the above-mentioned food spoilage conditions, we can take the following measures to reduce microbial contamination. Clean the soil and dirt contained in some food materials to reduce or remove most of the microorganisms. Drying and cooling, making the environment unsuitable for the growth and reproduction of microorganisms is also an effective measure. In the process of processing, transportation, and storage, the environment, equipment, auxiliary materials, and staff should pay attention to prevent microorganisms from contaminating food. Aseptic sealed packaging is an effective way to prevent microbial contamination after food processing.
Adopt preservation methods to prevent and reduce microbial contamination and spoilage of food. Refrigeration, preservation after heat processing, dry storage, storage after radiation, preservation by adding chemical preservatives, preservation of food by fermentation or pickling, etc. are all effective preservation methods.
Significance of food microbiological inspection:
Food spoilage due to microbial spoilage not only causes loss and waste of food but also seriously affects people's health. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, billions of people suffer from foodborne diseases every year. The probability of foodborne diseases in developed countries (including the United States) is also quite high. On average, 1/3 of the population is infected with foodborne diseases every year. Therefore, we must not only prevent and control microbial contamination but also require the quality inspection department to conduct strict inspections on microbes in food, so that consumers can eat food with confidence. Food microbiological inspection is of great significance.
Food microbiological inspection is one of the important indicators to measure the hygienic quality of food, and it is also one of the scientific bases for judging whether the inspected food is edible. Through food microbiological inspection, the food processing environment and food hygiene environment can be judged, the degree of food contamination by bacteria can be correctly evaluated, and the scientific basis for various hygiene management tasks can be provided to provide information on infectious diseases and human, animal, and food poisoning. Prevention. Food microbiological inspection is to implement the "prevention first" sanitation policy, which can effectively prevent or reduce the occurrence of food poisoning zoonoses and protect people's health; at the same time, it is important for improving product quality, avoiding economic losses, and ensuring export Such aspects are of political and economic importance. The microbiological safety of food should be controlled in the links of raw materials, formula, processing, etc., not just the inspection of the final product; a scientific management system should be used in the production, processing, storage, sales, and preparation. It is more important to control microbial contamination, because microbial contamination may occur in any part of food processing, and even packaging, transportation, and sales after heat sterilization may cause problems. Therefore, we must better prevent and control the contamination of food by microorganisms based on the relationship between microorganisms and food, so that consumers can truly eat food with confidence.