9781422281345

Critical World Issues

Food Technology

Critical World Issues

Abortion Animal Rights The Arms Trade Capital Punishment Consumerism Drugs Equal Opportunities Euthanasia

Food Technology Genetic Engineering Genocide Human Rights

Poverty Racism Refugees Terrorism

Critical World Issues

Food Technology

Chris Banzoff

Mason Crest Philadelphia

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com ©2017 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America. CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #CWI2016. For further information, contact Mason Crest at 1-866-MCP-Book. First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

on file at the Library of Congress ISBN: 978-1-4222-3654-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4222-8134-5 (ebook) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4222-3337-5 (hc) ISBN 978-1-4222-8622-7 (ebook)

1. Southwestern States—Juvenile literature. 2. Arizona—Juvenile literature. 3. California—Juvenile literature. 4. Nevada—Juvenile literature. I. Title. F785.7.L37 2015 979—dc23 2014050200

Critical World Issues series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3645-1

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Table of Contents 1: Introduction to Food Technology ......................7 2: Benefits of Food Technology ............................21 3: Concerns about Food Technology ....................35 4: Genetically Modified Foods ..............................59 5: Regulation of the Food Industry ......................77 6: The Future of Food Technology ......................87 Appendix: Food Technology Statistics ................95 Organizations to Contact ....................................100 Series Glossary....................................................102 Further Reading..................................................104 Internet Resources ..............................................106 Index....................................................................108 Photo Credits/About the Author........................112

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR :

Text-dependent questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there.

Words to understand: ;OLZL ^VYKZ ^P[O [OLPY LHZ` [V \UKLYZ[HUK KLÄUP[PVUZ ^PSS increase the reader's understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills.

Series glossary of key terms: This back-of-the book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader's HIPSP[` [V YLHK HUK JVTWYLOLUK OPNOLY SL]LS IVVRZ HUK HY[PJSLZ PU [OPZ ÄLSK Research projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives.

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Introduction to Food Technology J oseph Maloba is a farmer in the highlands of Kenya. For the last ten years, he has supplied a Western food compa- ny with green beans and has become dependent on their business. The company now says that the beans Joseph grows do not match its standards and has withdrawn its order, leav- ing Joseph facing financial ruin. Joseph’s Story “My name is Joseph Maloba. My family has owned farmlands in the highlands of Kenya for many generations. In the past, we grew many different crops which we sold in local markets, but farming has changed greatly: About forty or fifty years ago, 50 percent of the money spent on food went to farmers; today that figure is much lower than 10 percent.

Today, food science and food technology are taught in universities and colleges around the world.

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“Ten years ago, the company that bought most of my crops came to me with a contract. They told me they wanted my lands to grow only fine beans and insisted I use certain fertil- izers and pesticides which were expensive for me to buy. “They also wanted me to guarantee that I would supply a certain tonnage of the crop or face penalties. I had no choice but to sign the contract and accept their loan for the expensive chemicals.

Words to Understand in This Chapter

blanch— to put food items in boiling water or steam for a short time. convenience food— any packaged food, dish, or meal that can be prepared quickly and easily, as by thawing or heating. deteriorate— to become worse as time passes. enzyme— a chemical substance in animals and plants that helps to cause natural processes, such as digestion. fermentation— a chemical breaking down of a substance, such as sugar, that is controlled by an enzyme and usually does not require oxygen. Fermentation typically results in the production of alcohol and carbon dioxide. food science— the study of the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food. food technology— the application of food science to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, distribution, and use of safe food. microorganism— an extremely small living thing that can only be seen with a microscope. pasteurize— a process in which a liquid, such as milk, is heated to a temperature high enough to kill many harmful germs, then cooled rapidly. pesticide— a chemical that is used to kill animals or insects that damage plants or crops.

sterilize— to clean something by destroying germs or bacteria. tonnage— the total weight or amount of something in tons.

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Food Technology

The use of technology is expensive for farmers in Africa and other parts of the developing world.

Two years ago, I was told that my beans were no longer suitable. I could not understand it. They were healthy and tast- ed good. The company said they did not match their new stan- dards—they had to be between 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 inches in length, 3/16 to 1/4 inches in diameter, and straight, not curved. The variety I grew was curved. These did not fit their packaging for European stores. My crop was rejected, and I had to sell many tons as livestock feed at a very low price. I am still paying back money to the company and am deeply in debt.

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Introduction to Food Technology

“I am fearful of genetically modified (GM) crops, but they may offer the only way that I can farm my lands again. One company has offered me GM seed for free for one growing sea- son but only if I promise to buy their seed for many seasons to come. “Many members of my family work at a processing plant preparing baby vegetables and tying them into small bundles with straw for supermarkets in Europe. The hours are long, and they are exhausted, standing on their feet all day. They are picked up by the company bus at sunrise and sometimes do not get home until midnight. They each have to prepare over 330

Food technology has been used to create foods that are ready as quickly and as easily as possible, such as this microwave popcorn.

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Food Technology

pounds of vegetables each day, for which they get paid 220 Kenyan shillings (around $2.17). When I hear that a pack of these fancy vegetables sells in a Western store for as much as what a worker earns in a day here, I am filled with anger and am upset. How can this be right?” Food Technology Defined Every time you open a can of beans, reach into a freezer for ice cream, or buy a frozen pizza to heat in a microwave oven, you are experiencing food technology in action. Food technology is the application of science and technology to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, distribution, and use of safe food. This includes creating food products, shipping them to stores and outlets, and selling them to consumers. Our planet supports an incredible array of plants, animals, and other living organisms. Over a period of thousands of years, humankind discovered that many species were edible and could be hunted and caught, plucked from trees, or dug out of the soil and eaten in order for people to survive and flourish. Today, few foods are eaten as they are found in the wild. Most foods that reach the plates of people, especially those in more developed nations such as the United States and UK, have been prepared and processed using food technology. Food Science versus Food Technology Food science is the use of biology, chemistry, physics, and engi- neering to study the nature of foods. Food science looks at why foods deteriorate or spoil over time, how foods can be mixed or altered to create different food products, and how they can be

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Introduction to Food Technology

In the United States during 2015, 150 different food products were recalled from store shelves. Many of these products contained undeclared substances that were capable of caus- ing dangerous allergic reactions in some people. In total, 21,104,848 pounds of food was recalled. Other reasons for recalls included harmful bacteria, unnecessary material, and processing defects.

preserved so that they last longer without spoiling. Food tech- nology applies food science in practical ways to select foods, process and preserve them, and distribute them to customers. Food technology is more obviously at work in highly processed, packaged meals such as convenience foods —also known as ready-made meals, prepared meals, prepackaged meals, or TV dinners—yet it also affects almost all of the food we eat. A strawberry bought from a store may look as if it has

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Food Technology

not been touched by technology, but the truth is different. Food technology may have been involved in many stages, from how the fruit was grown, harvested, transported, and packaged to the possibility that it was treated with radiation to increase the length of time it remains good to eat. Food Technology Applications Cheese is sometimes used as an example of the many different ways food technology works. In fact, cheese is an example of an invented food product. It is not found naturally in the world but is the result of a series of human-made processes. Food

Today, pre-prepared meals offer a wide range of menus, including many foreign or exotic foods, which can be ready in a matter of minutes.

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Introduction to Food Technology

The Inventor of Frozen Foods C larence Birdseye (1886-1956) from the United States invented a quick-freeze process in the 1920s. Working as a field naturalist in the frigid Arctic, Birdseye saw firsthand how freezing freshly caught seafood kept its taste and texture when it was thawed out and eaten several weeks later. Setting up his first company in a New York fish market in 1922, Birdseye first froze seafood and then moved on to freeze meats, fruits, and vegetables. For people living far from the coast or farming areas, rapid freezing increased the availability of foods such as fish and veg- etables. However, if vegetables are frozen directly, chemicals called enzymes cause a slow deterioration in color and flavor, even at low temperatures. To prevent this, most vegetables are blanched before they are frozen. This action destroys the activity of the enzymes.

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Food Technology