Food is an essential need for all human beings. Given the importance of food in the human body and in the bodies of animals, human beings as well as other animals obviously feed on daily a basis. The demand for food is high due to the increasing global population versus the demand for fresh food. This has in turn led to the need to preserve and process foods, especially the perishable ones. Food preservation entails the process of modifying the food environment to make the survival of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and yeasts difficult (Madriz 4766). Food processing on the other hand refers to the process of changing the initial form of the food to another form. Some possible reasons for processing food include; preservation, quality enhancement, fortification, and food modification. Organic fresh foods are becoming less available while processed foods are increasingly becoming more popular throughout the world, and processed foods are affecting human health.
For many years now, the manufacturers of food commodities have been blamed for the unsafe food products they release into the market. The main reason behind this blame is the kind of chemical substances they subject the food to during processing, as well as, the additives they add into the food. As a result, most of the processed food in the market is unsafe. Manufacturers, therefore, cannot guarantee the safety of such foods. As such, the governments of most nations, together with other related bodies such as the FDA, WHO, and USDA have come in to regulate the manufacture of food about safety. The FDA has determined that about 3,000 ingredients added to food are safe. However, the remaining ingredients, which are not documented may have negative impacts on the health of human beings. Most of the hazardous chemicals are not known by name or composition (Burke 1). In a report on food safety in the United States, Burke noted that the Grocery Manufacturers Association insists that further tests be conducted on some of these ingredients to increase the transparency of manufacturers, as well as, build consumer trust (Burke 1). It is important that consumers are informed of what they are about to consume before they can purchase certain commodities in order to give them the option of choosing for themselves.
Food preservation entails an increase in the shelf life of a food commodity. The elongation of shelf life is done through various methods, some of which include the use of chemicals. The chemicals added to the food commodity are responsible for changing the physical and chemical characteristics of the food so that it can have a longer shelf life. Some of these additives play the role of inhibiting microbial growth in food. Common additives used include sodium nitrite, calcium propionate, disodium EDTA, formaldehyde, sulfates, ethanol, and glutaraldehyde among others. Irradiation is yet another method of food preservation thought to have impacts on the health of human beings (Madriz 4769). This is because the radioactive energy involved is bound to activate cancer-causing organisms, and cancer could be the result if these foods were consumed for an extended period.
Additionally, food processing is thought to have detrimental health effects on the human body once processed foods are consumed within a certain period. This is because of the mere fact that some of the processing techniques involve the use of chemicals, while others require modern technologies such as irradiation and sterilization. Just like food preservation techniques, other methods of food processing have a significant effect on the health of human beings. Some of these food preservation methods can even lead to food poisoning if the preserving chemicals are not monitored well.
It should be noted that not all food preservation and processing methods have negative impacts on the food and the health of human beings. Processing of foods can have negative effects on the nutritional density of the food. This means that some of the essential nutrients are bound to be destroyed during processing (Schroeder 562). An example is vitamin C, which is heat resistant, and therefore, Vitamin C is easily destroyed when food containing it is subjected to high temperatures during processing (Schroeder 562). This has a duplicate effect as the food will lack the essential nutrients required because they are destroyed by heat. Secondly, the manufacturers add synthetic nutrients to the food once the natural ones have been destroyed. Synthetic nutrients have been known to have detrimental effects on the body once consumed. The addition of additives during processing is another concern. These additives could take the form of preservatives, stabilizers, thickeners, and sweeteners just to mention a few. These additives have different health impacts on different individuals (FDA 1). For instance, the addition of sweeteners in foods could pose significant health risks to diabetic patients. This is because the sweeteners are mostly sugar-based and thus they can potentially raise the sugar levels of diabetic patients. Most of the chemical additives have been known to have residual effects on the body, thus posing health risks. Take the example of a food stabilizer. Once it has stabilized the food where do the residues go? The residues remain in the food, and who knows what health effects they could bring about? At the same time, these additives have specified allowable levels. However, our food manufacturers exceed these levels in an effort to quicken their processing methods among other benefits, at the expense of the consumer’s health. Other effects that could arise because of food processing include change of the initial form of the food product as well as production of harmful compounds. For instance, off-flavors are produced during the processing of lipids (FDA 1). These could have a general effect of making the food undesirable, as well as, health impacts. For example in 2002, it was found out that the processing of potatoes into potato crisps and French fries through deep frying, led to the production of a compound known as Acrylamide, which is carcinogenic (Kathryn et al 954). This comes about due to the high temperatures involved, resulting in a reaction between the sugars in the potatoes, and the carbonyls in the oil. However, research indicated that acrylamide was not produced when the potatoes were boiled. Irradiation is also known to produce radiolytic substances, which have been argued to be carcinogenic. This is because the radiation process modifies the genetic makeup of the microorganisms and other substances in the food commodity. Overall, the common health risks that arise when consuming processed foods continually in life include; cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, and skin problems among other lifestyle diseases. The food additives do not necessarily cause these conditions but play significant roles in accelerating the occurrence of the health conditions. For instance, continuous intake of foods added with sweeteners could lead to an imbalance in the body sugar level, which leads to diabetes.
Processing and preserving foods have many negative effects but they can also bring about some benefits. Various reasons lead to the need for processed and preserved foods. The main reason for this is the increased demand for fresh and convenient foods by the consumers. For instance, a consumer who lives far from a vegetable-producing region would require the vegetables in the same condition as they were just after harvesting. Therefore, to preserve the vegetable blanching and pickling processes are used to keep them as close to their original state as possible. Another example is the military who will need to eat during wars, yet they are normally in places where food cannot be easily found. They, therefore, use processed foods during their combat. Food processing and preservation are also of significant importance when it comes to keeping foods for long periods. This is mostly in regions that experience long spells of drought seasons. With the help of processing and preservation techniques, they can store their bumper harvests and use them during dry spells. The same case applies to military personnel who go to distant places where they are at times not able to get food and have no time to cook even if they get some. As a result, the canning preservation method comes in handy for the military as they can carry ready food with them, which could take about 3 years in the same state. The other positive effect of food preservation and processing techniques is that they prevent the incurrence of losses. Imagine a situation where the milk produced in a certain region is expected to be used within the same day in another distant region. Without processing and preservation, the milk would become rotten and useless quickly which would result in a great loss of resources and supply. However, because of the presence of processing and preservation techniques, milk and other food commodities can be modified into states in which they can be easily transported, and kept for longer periods.
Having looked at the negative effects of processing and preserving foods in the previous section it is important to discuss the possible solutions to this problem. This is in fact what the governments of most nations have been working towards in order to achieve food safety throughout the globe. Despite the industry trade associations and private companies claiming that about 3,000 of the ingredients added to foods are safe for consumption, governments still recognize that some of these ingredients in foods are unhealthy and the issue needs attention. According to a report in Food Safety journals and Food science Reviews funded by the Pew Health Group, it was discussed that the public is neither informed nor aware of the ingredients that go into their processed foods in the market (Burke 1). Actually, the chemical composition of these additives is not known. As such, the first step in this controversial issue is providing the documentation of all additives. In addition to this, the chemical composition of each ingredient should be analyzed. In the same report by Burke, it was proposed that advanced methods of chemical and biological analysis are used in order to determine the actual components of additives. This way, the FDA will be able to determine the additives that are safe for human consumption given their chemical compositions. For instance, some of the additives have been argued to contain traces of lethal substances that pose great health risks to human beings. In addition to this, it is important that manufacturers be required to indicate the list of all ingredients added in any food commodity produced, as well as, their quantities. This will not only ensure openness on the issue but will also give the consumers the opportunity of knowing what they consume. Because of this, they will be able to choose the products to buy and consume based on the information given by the manufacturer.
The other way of ensuring the safety of foods that are consumed is by having the FDA together with the Bureau of Statistics of every nation inspect the food commodities produced in the nations. They should perform analyses to determine if the labeled ingredients and their quantities are what is contained in the food commodity. The same should be performed on all imported food products before they can be released into the market. This authentication is necessary to ensure the safety of foods, thus, protecting the consumers. The residual substances that are left by these chemical substances should also be analyzed to determine their effects.
Consumers too have a role to play in ensuring food safety. For instance, they should avoid food commodities processed using methods that pose health risks. Like in the case mentioned above of potato crisps and French fries, consumers and lovers of the latter food products should resort to other food products because of the health risks that result after long-term consumption of those products. For example, instead of consuming potato crisps and French fries, they could have roasted potatoes instead (Kathryn et al 954). In this, the manufacturers could come up with other methods of producing French fries without having to fry them. Just recently, a new method of air frying was developed in which foods are fried in the air instead of using oil and fat.
Food processing and preservation are used due to the needs of the consumers and the manufacturers. It has also been seen that preservation is among the many food-processing methods. In both, different methods are involved but the most detrimental to the health of human beings concerns the addition of additives in the foods. These additives are normally in the form of chemicals whose composition is in most cases not known. As a result, people have suffered from various lifestyle diseases such as cancer among others (FDA 1). The main reason behind this is the lack of quantification of the additives and their compositional analysis. Therefore, in order to deal with this problem and ensure the safety of food, it is important that manufacturers label the additives added in each food commodity as well as their quantities. Lastly, the government through the FDA and the Bureau of Statistics should perform routine analysis of the food commodities, to determine the sincerity of the manufacturers and prevent the consumption of harmful chemicals.
Works Cited
Burke, Garance. “Report: Industry Decides US Food Ingredient Safety.” Sirs. 2011. Web.
FDA. “Chapter 5. Effect of Preservation Technologies and Microbial Inactivation in Foods.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 2009. Web.
Kathryn, Wilson et al. “Dietary Acrylamide Intake and Risk of Premenopausal Breast Cancer.” American Journal of Epidemiology 169.8 (2009): 954.
Madriz, Sancho. “Preservation of Food.” Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition. Web.
Schroeder, Henry. “Losses of vitamins and trace minerals resulting from processing and preservation of foods.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 24.5 (1971): 562-573. Print.