NCERT Class 12 Home Science Chapter 6 Food Quality and Food Safety

FOOD QUALITY AND FOOD SAFETY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

After completing this chapter the learner will be able to:

• appreciate the importance of various issues related to food safety and quality
•  understand how food-borne illnesses occur
• know about national and international food standards and their role  in ensuring food quality and safety
• understand the importance of food safety management systems
• be acquainted with various career avenues / options in this area.

IINTRODUCTION

Food is a major determinant of health, nutritional status and productivity of the population. It is, therefore, essential that the food we consume is whole some and safe. Unsafe food can lead to a large number of food-borne diseases. You may have seen reports in the newspapers about health problems caused by contaminated or adulterated foods. Globally, food borne illness is a major problem of public health concern. In 2005 alone,18million people are reported to have died from diarrhoeal diseases. In India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in September 2010 stated children less than five years of age. Food-borne illness can not only result in mortality but can damage trade and tourism, lead to loss of earnings, unemployment and litigation and thus can impede economic growth, and therefore food safety and quality have gained worldwide significance.

Significance

Food safety and quality are important at the home level, but are critical in large scale food production and processing, and also where food is freshly prepared and served. In the past, many foods were processed at home. Advancement in technology and processing, larger per capita incomes and better purchasing power as well as increased consumer demand have led to a variety of products of processed foods, food for health / functional foods being manufactured. Safety of such foods needs to be assessed.

Quality of food stuff, raw as well as processed is of public health concern and must be addressed. In the past decade, safety challenges faced globally as well as in India have changed significantly and issues related to food quality and food safety have gained tremendous importance. A number of factors are responsible for this:

• With fast changing lifestyles and eating habits, more people are eating outside their homes. In commercial settings, foods are prepared in bulk handled by many persons, thus there are more chances of food getting contaminated. Further, food items are prepared many hours in advance, and may spoil if not stored appropriately.

• There are many processed and packaged foods. Safety of these foods is important.

• Spices and condiments, oilseeds were processed at home in former times and purity of these were not a concern. In today’s world, prepackaged individual spices, condiments, spice powders and mixes are in demand, especially in cities and metros. Quality of even raw food stuff besides processed foods is of public health concern and must be addressed.

• Logistics governing transport of bulk food is complex and there is a long gap between processing and consumption. Thus risk assessment and safety management during mass production and mass distribution is critical.

• Microbial adaptations, antibiotic resistance, altered human susceptibility and international traveling have all contributed to increasing incidence of food-borne microbial diseases. Nearly half of.

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