Food borne diseases are diseases caused by the ingestion of food borne pathogens. They are generally regarded as gastrointestinal infections that occur when microbes are ingested via contaminated foods or food products. In cases of food borne diseases, the ingested food borne pathogen grows within the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) or gut of the affected individual; […]
FOOD BORNE DISEASES Read More »
Food Microbiology
Appertization is simply defined as the heat-treatment of food at certain temperature levels that inhibit or kill pathogenic microorganisms present in the food. Unlike pasteurization which uses temperatures below 100oC to kill microbes in food, appertization (which was discovered by Nicolas Appert in the 18th century) is generally a food preservation technique that is used
Pasteurization is simply defined as the process of heating food during its production in order to destroy pathogenic microorganisms or food spoilage organisms in them. Food products or foods such as milk, yoghurt, dairy products and other liquid products are heated in this manner to destroy microorganisms that cause disease and spoilage in them. Pasteurization
Food preservation is the technique used to prevent food spoilage. It encompass all the methods employed to inhibit or delay the growth of microorganisms especially food spoilage microbes in food and/or food products. Various methods exist for the preservation of food after production and usage. Food preservation amongst other things ensures that the shelf life
Nicolas Appert, a French chef and a confectioner is the “father of canning”, and was the inventor of airtight food preservation which is still applicable today in the food industry. He developed a heating process in which canned foods (e.g. milk, meat, drinks, and vegetables) could be preserved and prevented from spoilage by microbial fermentative
NICOLAS APPERT (1749-1841) Read More »
General Microbiology
Louis Pasteur, a French scientist was the first to report the role of microorganisms in fermentation in 1848. Though a trained chemist, Pasteur was also one of the first scientists to recognize the significance of optical isomers, and he emerged one of the greatest biologists of the 19th century. Louis Pasteur achieved distinction in organic
LOUIS PASTEUR (1822-1895) Read More »
General Microbiology
One of the traditional arguments against abiogenesis was the claim that the heat used to sterilize the air or specimens was destroying a vital force of life which did not allow microorganisms to spontaneously appear. People believed for many centuries the concept of spontaneous generation, i.e. the creation of life from organic matter. The proponents
JOHN TYNDALL (1820-1883) Read More »
General Microbiology
Food microbiology is the branch of microbiology that deals with methods for keeping microorganisms (especially food-borne pathogens and spoilage microbes) from growing in food during handling, processing and storage. In food microbiology, microbes that are of importance in food production are studied by food microbiologists; and those pathogens that cause food borne diseases and food
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Food Microbiology