La influencia de la tecnología y los alimentos.

INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY AND FOOD

Most of the foods that go into the making of our meals, are products that have undergone transformation from the initial raw material.

In this regard, FAO Food classified into four groups:

PRIMARY: Raw materials which fully retain their identity as cereals, milk, eggs, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables ...

SECONDARY: Products which retain their identity but have undergone some process, usually conservative, for example, powdered milk, nuts, refined cereals ...

DERIVATIVES: Products that have lost their original identity because they have been obtained from mergers or extractions, such as olive oil and seeds, fruit juices ...

GOODS: These can be mono compound, ie, from a single food such as bread, pasta, canned fish and fruit, or multi compounds such as packet soups, cooked food, etc ...

The aim of all food transformer must be to find ways to optimize product quality that is nutritious minimizing losses.

For this reason it is necessary to understand the factors that can influence varied form on the nutritional quality of food.

PHYSICAL AGENTS

LIGHT: provides energy for certain reactions such as oxidation of lipids and certain water soluble vitamins are produced. Also some amino acids like histidine, tryptophan, tyrosine and methionine can be denatured in the presence of certain activators such as oxidized fatty acids, or vitamin B2 is photosensitive. Therefore food must be protected with opaque containers to limit the alterations that light can promote.

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OXYGEN: It is an important factor in the degradation of foodstuffs during storage and distribution, particularly for fresh fruits and vegetables and potatoes, depending on the duration and conditions of storage.

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TEMPERATURE: Most treatments are directed to preserve temperature that can degrade, but sometimes certain processes that apply heat may cause vitamin loss and sometimes some other nutrient, but to lose protein, for example, temperatures are required extremely high.

Conserving cold, slows the deterioration if cooling is applied and brakes completely through freezing.[pic 3]

MOISTURE: This element promotes bacterial proliferation, the possibility of enmohecimientos and development of certain enzyme mechanisms; therefore food should be stored away from this factor. Hermetic packaging certain conditions prevent action be felt in food and hygienically treated.

PH: We also own means of certain foods or conditions in which they find they can keep them or damage them.

The acids or preserved food in this medium are defended from microbial attacks, but instead this medium can be the vehicle for chemical problems occur.

Advances in food technology and its social impact

Consumer remains cautious implementation of new food technologies are emerging

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GM, nanotechnology, cloning, irradiation or the development of "novel foods". These are some of the terms that consumers will gradually familiar. The result of a major technological activity in recent years and in response, in some cases, food crises, science has tried, and try, offer the consumer foods better and safer every time. But how consumers perceive these technological developments ?, technologists have their views into account when focus their studies? For example, studies show that not all consumers perceive the use of genetics as a risk to food security, and those who do, often do not agree on the reasons.

Knowing what consumers know and understand about the advances in food technology and how they relate to the safety of the food they buy is the less laborious task. Until recently methodologies to determine the degree of "scientific culture" have focused on two values: trust and mistrust. And depending on these two variables numerous studies have been conducted to assess the degree of acceptance that have some of the major food advances.

One of the latest analysis has conducted the Food Standards Agency (FSA ALARA) in the UK, which has collected data since 1999. The research concludes that consumers remain cautious new food technologies that are emerging, especially those related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are the biggest concern and suspicion generated.

Between caution and uncertainty

The gap between the science of food and consumer perception translates into some misgivings about the use of certain techniques While the main priority of the authorities in food is to ensure that food reaching the consumer are as safe as possible, get it going to apply all the more appropriate measures, but also for being "aware of how people receive the new technologies".

Over the past ten years there has been an intense attention to this technology, which has borne fruit in the form of GMO or cloned animals. In addition to the challenges raised by the scientific community, these advances have had their mark on public opinion, which shows certain gaps in understanding. Some of these questions are about how all this activity affects consumers when access to a particular food.

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