EPF 3107

MICROBIOLOGY AND SAFE

FOOD PROCESSING
Department of Food Process and Engineering
Dr. Noor Zafira Noor Hasnan
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Food Preservation

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 Learning outcome

 Students will be able to understand, recognize and

explain the different preservation technique for the
available food products in market.

 Students will be able to understand, recognize and

explain the production method involved.

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 Our scope for learning

Chilled Frozen Dried

food food food
Aseptically
Canned packaged
food food

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FROZEN FOOD

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 FROZEN Food
 Introduction
 Microbial consideration
 Production method
 Ingredients to produce frozen food products
 Processing method for frozen food products
 Primary processing
 Secondary processing
 Packaging inc. coding and labeling
 Finished product storage and distribution
 Process control and validation

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Introduction

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Example of frozen food products:

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 Principle of freezing

 The process involves lowering the product temperature

generally to -18 °C or below
 Moisture is changed to ice
 Freezing slows the metabolism of food and the microbe
Stop the growth of microorganisms and the chemical
changes that affect quality or cause food to spoil
 Nevertheless, some microbe can grow within the freezer
range but at an extremely slow rate
 Preserve taste, texture and nutritional value
 Extended shelf life (shelf life is longer than chilled food
products) Typically frozen food have shelf life of 6 months
to two years, chilled food 1- 6 weeks
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Freezing curve

Sensible
cooling
above
freezing

Latent heat of
fusion zone
First
nucleation
All liquid is frozen

Sensible
cooling
below
freezing

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 Types of freezing

1. Fast freezing : Quick or fast freezing occurs at –25ºC or

less in a short time. Ice crystals are small and do not
damage food cells

2. Slow freezing : occurs at -24 ºC or above. Ice crystals are

big and damage the food cells causing loss of texture,
nutrients, colour & flavour on thawing.

Slow freezing is more harmful to the microbe but more

damage to food’s quality

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What happen to microorganism during freezing

 The water activity of food decrease , aw , decreases as

temperature drops  the necessity of refrigeration
(interact temperature with aw factor)
 This affects the transport of nutrients from food into the
interior cell of microorganism since water mobility in food is
decreased  growth of bacteria, fungi and mold is not
supported
 They are not able to divide themselves as they try to adapt
themselves to growth condition with limited water activity:
o  extending the lag phase and time to produce toxin for spore
former  log phase is suppressed, decrease microorganism’s growth
rate reduce the maximum population densities food is stable
and preserved
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Microorganism related to chilled food

They still can survive

and grow at low
temperature !

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 Microorganism
 The toxin of C. botulinum and S. aureus are not destroyed during
freezing.  food poison is possible when we eat frozen food containing
pre-formed toxin before the freezing process takes place
 Parasitic protozoa, tapeworm, roundworm are killed when freezing.
 Yeast and mold cannot grow in freezing temperature but can survive and
will start to bloom again when the temperature of food rise to 10-35°C
 Listeria, Clostridium and Bacillus bacteria are not killed but stop growing
during freezing.
 Healthy people are unlikely to get sick from eating foods contaminated
with Listeria. Rather, adults older than 65, people with weakened
immune systems and pregnant women are at higher risk for illness and
the sickness can be fatal.

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 Microorganism

 In brief, Freezing does not destroy

spoilage organisms; it only stops
their growth temporarily. During
the freezing process, microbial
growth can occur under the
following circumstances:
• when freezing does not
take place rapidly;
• when freezer temperature
is above -18°C

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 Why Do We See
More Frozen Foods
Entering The Market?

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 Trend for frozen food

 Consumer demand for higher quality food  frozen

food is expected to have more freshness and “natural”
than food that undergone heat treatment freezing
process is less severe than heat treatment 
Nutritional and sensory (color, texture, taste) quality
are better
 Consumer are busier than before  looking for
convenience food products such as frozen food 
less time required to cook/prepare
 Longer storage time
 Yet, expensive since the use of energy is high

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 Why do some manufacturer
choose to chill while others
choose to freeze??
Think in term of time required,
energy use, technology
requirement, operational and
investment cost, product price,
shelf-life, temperature of
storage, consumer’s
preference?

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PRODUCTION OF FROZEN FOOD

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 General Production Method
Receiving of raw ingredient
Focus is to take care of our
raw material’s quality
(ingredients)
Raw material storage

-There are primary and secondary

Production processes processes
-Use of hurdle technologies

Packing, coding and labeling There are primary, secondary and

tertiary packaging

Finished product storage at

-18°C or below
Focus is to maintain the quality of our
frozen product and ensure its shelf life
Shipping 22
The consideration during processes are similar
to that of chilled food, it is just the
temperature….
 Raw materials to produce frozen food products must
have good quality  quality assurance similar to
chilled food
 Temperature of frozen food products is maintained
at minimally -18°C throughout the supply chain
(storage, transport, at retailer)
 Process along the supply chain have to be
controlled, validate and verified (similar to chilled
food)
 Coding and labelling at packaging
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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ74f35_XJw

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 THAWING

Bacteria won't grow in the freezer, but freezing

won't kill them. So whatever was in your food

when you froze, it will be there again when

you thaw it

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 Thawing the frozen food
 When thawing at warm temperature and the product surface is
allowed to stay above 5°C for a long period  microbes can grow,
spores of Clostridium botulinum can grow and produce toxin.
 Thawing of poultry produces drip and accumulate around the
product  ideal for microbe’s growth
 Hence, thaw correctly: Thaw in fridge/refrigerator/chiller where
temperature is maintained below 5°C before the food is prepared
 practice in factory when they deal with frozen raw material to
be used during production
 Or submerge the frozen food (encased in packaging) in
cold water maintained below 5°C, the water should be
replaced when it warms up e.g by adding ice cubes
NEVER THAW AT ROOM TEMPERATURE ESP FOR A LONG PERIOD 26
 Packaging consideration

PROPERTIES EXAMPLES
 Strong.  Strong, polythene freezer
 Water proof. bags.
 Aluminium containers.
 Vapour proof.
 Aluminium foil.
 Grease proof.
 Freezer paper.
 Easy to use.
 Waxed cartons.
 Sealable.
 Plastic boxes with tight
lids.

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END OF LECTURE

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