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MiCRoBiAL FooD
SPoiLAGe
A food is considered spoiled when it loses its acceptance qualities. The factors considered in judging the acceptance qualities of a food include color, texture, flavor (smell and taste), shape, and
absence of abnormalities. Loss of one or more normal characteristics in a food is considered to be
a result of spoilage.
Food spoilage causes not only economic loss, but also loss of consumable foods. In the United
States and some other countries, where foods are produced and procured from many countries
much more than the need, spoilage up to a certain level is not considered serious. However, in
many countries where food production is not efficient, food spoilage can adversely affect the availability of food. With the increase in world population, serious consideration needs to be given on
not only increasing food production, but also reducing food spoilage, which, for certain produce
in some countries, could reach 25% or more. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of
the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each year
one third of food produced for human consumption is wasted.
The acceptance qualities of a food can be lost because of infestation with insects and rodents,
undesirable physical and chemical actions, and growth of microorganisms. An example of physical
spoilage is dehydration of fresh vegetables (wilting). Chemical spoilage includes oxidation of fat,
browning of fruits and vegetables, and autolytic degradation of some vegetables (by pectinases)
and fishes (by proteinases). Microbial spoilage results either as a consequence of microbial growth
in a food or because of the action of some microbial enzymes present in a food. In this section,
food spoilage resulting from microbial growth and microbial enzymes is discussed under the following topics:
Chapter 19: Important Factors in Microbial Food Spoilage
Chapter 20: Spoilage of Specific Food Groups
Chapter 21: New Food Spoilage Bacteria in Refrigerated Foods
Chapter 22: Food Spoilage by Microbial Enzymes
Chapter 23: Indicators of Microbial Food Spoilage
MiCRoBiAL FooD
SPoiLAGe
A food is considered spoiled when it loses its acceptance qualities. The factors considered in judging the acceptance qualities of a food include color, texture, flavor (smell and taste), shape, and
absence of abnormalities. Loss of one or more normal characteristics in a food is considered to be
a result of spoilage.
Food spoilage causes not only economic loss, but also loss of consumable foods. In the United
States and some other countries, where foods are produced and procured from many countries
much more than the need, spoilage up to a certain level is not considered serious. However, in
many countries where food production is not efficient, food spoilage can adversely affect the availability of food. With the increase in world population, serious consideration needs to be given on
not only increasing food production, but also reducing food spoilage, which, for certain produce
in some countries, could reach 25% or more. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of
the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each year
one third of food produced for human consumption is wasted.
The acceptance qualities of a food can be lost because of infestation with insects and rodents,
undesirable physical and chemical actions, and growth of microorganisms. An example of physical
spoilage is dehydration of fresh vegetables (wilting). Chemical spoilage includes oxidation of fat,
browning of fruits and vegetables, and autolytic degradation of some vegetables (by pectinases)
and fishes (by proteinases). Microbial spoilage results either as a consequence of microbial growth
in a food or because of the action of some microbial enzymes present in a food. In this section,
food spoilage resulting from microbial growth and microbial enzymes is discussed under the following topics:
Chapter 19: Important Factors in Microbial Food Spoilage
Chapter 20: Spoilage of Specific Food Groups
Chapter 21: New Food Spoilage Bacteria in Refrigerated Foods
Chapter 22: Food Spoilage by Microbial Enzymes
Chapter 23: Indicators of Microbial Food Spoilage