Here is an excerpt from the article “Effects of pasteurization technological processes on food and its advantages in hospital feeding”, of the Veterinary Bromatologists José Ferreira Vacas, M. Ángeles Andrés Carretero and Tomás Arencibia Riveroincluded in the book “Standardization in hospital food and other social catering establishments” edited by
The treatments used in the food industry make it possible to offer safe products but, in many cases, their quality is significantly worse than products not subjected to to conservation treatment (Table 1).
The application of heat treatments It is the most widespread form of conservation of food. The tratment of sterilization has allowed the appearance of dishes prepared in preserves, cooked from traditional recipes and with a long commercial life without the need refrigeration, but this treatment, It is very aggressive with the nutritional properties and sensory of food, causing rejection in part of consumers.
For her part, the pasteurization It is used in the production of dishes cooked with a reduced expiration date and the need to apply refrigerated temperatures or Freeze for preservation. Pasteurization allows to maintain the freshness of the dishes preparations and achieve smells and flavors more similar to freshly cooked food, while At the same time, it reduces thermal damage of nutrients.
Consumers want to have safer food and at the same time look of fresh product, and to satisfy this desire food demands increase minimally processedthat maintain their original sensory and nutritional characteristics.
Therefore the food industry has to combine and/or develop technological processes with which results are obtained, which affect the viability of microorganisms, without a substantial increase in the temperature of the food that causes changes in the composition nutritional and organoleptic characteristics.
Thanks to new advances in refrigeration systemsny in response to new consumption habits, the industry has gradually implemented cooking technologies, cooled and packaged guarantee the hygienic quality of food and prolong its life useful minimizing disturbances in the same
The following summarizes the advantages and limitations of the usual treatments of conservation commonly used in social catering.
The pasteurized foods in hospital feeding offer a series of advantages related to any type of user and in particular to immunosuppressed patients, by being able to offer the user a packaged food free of cross contamination.
This technological process allows us offer the patient a greater supply of foodto the power have a stock of product in conservation. In addition, the sensory properties are not are altered to obtain a product with a natural appearance, without changes in flavor, texture or colored. Regarding the nutritional properties in more aggressive heat treatments thermolabile vitamins and the biological value of proteins are negatively affected, due to the loss of certain amino acids involved in Maillard reactions, which it does not happen in pasteurization treatments.
The future of current conservation technologies involves achieving a product with similar microbiological characteristics but of an organoleptic and sensory quality of product major ending. This will be achieved with the application of non-thermal technologies.
The non-thermal technologieswidely used in other food sectors, represent a new area of food processing and are currently being studied in On a global scale, research has grown rapidly in recent years in particular. These new technologies are very attractive to be used in combination, either between them or with the traditional ones looking for synergies to optimize the total quality of the food.
These non-thermal methods do not affector do so minimally, at nutritional characteristics and sensory of food. Technologies of this nature include the high pressure, ultrasound, irradiationas well as pulsed electric fields of high intensity, oscillating magnetic fields and high intensity white light. The optimization of The use of these conservation methods involves the design of combined processes, in which that the association or simultaneous application of several procedures allows to enhance the effect, of each of them, on the altering agents and reduce the adverse impact on the characteristics of treated foods.
Those interested in reading this article in its entirety can “Standardization in hospital food and other social catering establishments”.