Food Taints and Off-flavours - Hardcover

9780751400960: Food Taints and Off-flavours

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0751400963 ISBN 13: 9780751400960

Publisher: Aspen Publishers Inc.,U.S., 1995

Contamination of a food product with extremely low levels of certain organic chemicals can lead to its acquiring an unpleasant taste - a phenomenon known as the tainting of food. The concentration of the compound in the food is frequently as low as 1 part per thousand million of food and can sometimes be even lower. Until relatively recently the causes of tainting in food were largely unknown. The presence of these alien compounds in food can lead to the destruction of vast stocks of food every year, and even to the financial liquidation of small companies. Despite all the information which is available on the sources of these compounds, many reported cases of taints in food still regularly occur. The tainting of food is caused by the contamination of a foodstuff with an alien chemical, but this is not the only cause of a disagreeable taste. Chemical reactions within the foodstuff can occur at elevated temperatures, and the presence of oxygen will lead to the degradation of unsaturated fats - each leading to the production of undesirable flavours. Microbiological degradation of components of food inevitably leads to off-flavours in products. This book covers the sources of taints and off-flavours, their methods of identification, and methods by which they can be minimized or eliminated.

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