Understanding Ingredients Convenience Processed Food Topics Types of Convenience Processed Food Nutritive Value of Convenience Processed Food Choice and Storage of Convenience Processed Food Food and Nutrition Labelling of
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Topics Types of Convenience / Processed Food
Nutritive Value of Convenience / Processed Food
Choice and Storage of Convenience / Processed Food
Food and Nutrition Labelling of Convenience / Processed Food 2<br>
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Types of Convenience / Processed Food 3<br>
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Types of Convenience / Processed Food Convenience foods are foods which have been prepared or partially prepared
They help to make cooking and serving easier and quicker
Some convenience foods are ready to eat
The advantages of convenience foods:
Saves time
Saves fuel and waste
Easy to store
Ready for use when the food is not in season 4<br>
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Types of Convenience / Processed Food Convenience foods may be grouped into three main types
Canned or bottled
Frozen foods
Dried foods 5<br>
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Types of Convenience / Processed Food Canned or bottled foods
Some of them are ready-to-eat from can or bottle
Some of them require to be heated, diluted, or reconstituted
Before foods are being canned or bottled, they must be heated under appropriate conditions, such as time, temperature, and pressure
Foods are heated because it will:
inactivate microorganisms
decrease chemical damage
terminate enzyme activities
reduce physical changes 6<br>
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Types of Convenience / Processed Food Frozen foods
Some frozen foods are ready-to-eat, some require thawing, still some require cooking
Freezing involves the crystallization of water in food which requires the removal of latent heat
The temperature decreases in food affects microorganisms activity
Freezing influence important quality attributes of food, such as texture, colour, flavour, and nutrient content 7<br>
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Types of Convenience / Processed Food Dried foods
Some dried foods require to be reconstituted with water or other ingredients, some require to be cooked
In some foods that have relatively low solids contents, it is desirable to increase the solids content of such liquids
A common way is to evaporate some of the water by the application of heat
When foods are dried, their mass and volume will decrease, which help to:
produce concentrated liquid products (for sale to the consumer)
preconcentrate liquids for further processing
reduce the cost of transportation, storage, and packaging 8<br>
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Nutritive Value of Convenience / Processed Food 9<br>
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Nutritive Value of Convenience / Processed Food The macro-nutrients and minerals in convenience foods are not affected by food processing
Convenience foods have less dietary fibre than fresh foods
Vitamin B complex and vitamin C are lost in canning, bottling and drying 10<br>
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Choice and Storage of Convenience / Processed Food 11<br>
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Choice and Storage of Convenience / Processed Food Choosing convenience / processed Food
Check the expiry date
Cans should not be bulging, dented, or rusty
Bottles and packets of dried foods should be completely sealed and not opened
Frozen foods should not have signs of re-freezing, e.g. with large pieces of ice crystals 12<br>
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Choice and Storage of Convenience / Processed Food Storing convenience / processed Food
Store canned, bottled and dried foods in dry, ventilated cupboards
Store frozen foods in the freezer
Use according to the expiry date 13<br>
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Food and Nutrition Labelling of Convenience / Processed Food 14<br>
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Food and Nutrition Labelling of Convenience / Processed Food Labelling of convenience / processed food is controlled in Hong Kong legislation:
List of ingredients
Pre-packaged food shall be legibly marked or labelled with a list of ingredients
List of allergenic substance
If a food consists of or contains any of the following substances—
Cereals containing gluten (namely wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, their hybridized strains and their products);
Crustacea and crustacean products;
Eggs and egg products;
Fish and fish products;
Peanuts, soya beans and their products;
Milk and milk products (including lactose);
Tree nuts and nut products
Sulphite in a concentration of 10 parts per million or more
The name of the following substances shall be specified in the list of ingredients 15<br>
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Food and Nutrition Labelling of Convenience / Processed Food Labelling of convenience / processed food is controlled in Hong Kong legislation:
Appropriate durability indication
Indication of “best before” or “use by” date
Nutrition labelling
Pre-packaged food shall be marked or labelled with its energy value and nutrient content
Nutrition claim
If any nutrition claim is made on the food label or in any advertisement, the nutrient in concern shall be marked or labelled in the nutrition labelling 16<br>
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References Conforti, F. D. (2008). Food selection and preparation: a laboratory manual. Ames, IA: Wiley-Blackwell.
James G. Brennan and Alistair S. Grandison. Food processing handbook. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH; c2012.
Vickie A. Vaclavik, Elizabeth W. Christian. Essentials of food science. New York, NY: Springer, c2008. 17<br>
