How To Correctly Use Food Preservatives
Jul 27, 2020
(1) Correct selection of preservatives
Different preservatives have different physical and chemical properties. Each kind of preservative often has an inhibitory effect on only one or a few kinds of microorganisms. As different foods are infected with bacteria, they need different preservatives. For example, natamycin has the best antifungal effect. It is usually used to prevent mold on the surface of bread and cakes that are prone to mold, but it is not ideal for dairy products.
(2) Pay attention to the medium of preservatives
Different preservatives may have very different effects when used in different products. For example, calcium propionate has a better antiseptic effect for bread, but may not be effective for cakes, although the main ingredients of bread and cakes are roughly similar. The influencing factors include osmotic pressure, PH value, water activity and so on.
(3) Dissolution and dispersion of preservatives
Mycin is insoluble in water and ethanol, and it is easy to separate and block the nozzle when used for surface spraying. The smaller the granular shape of natamycin, the better the suspension and dispersion.
(4) Heat treatment of food
In general, heating can enhance the preservation effect of preservatives, such as adding oxygen bags to moon cake packaging, requiring hot packaging.
(5) Preservative combined use
Various preservatives have their own range of action. In some cases, two or more preservatives are used together, which often has a synergistic effect and is more effective than a single action. However, according to the regulations in GB2760, when multiple preservatives are used, the sum of their respective dosages to the maximum dosage cannot exceed 1.
(6) Reduce food contamination
Preservatives generally have little bactericidal effect, and only have antibacterial effects. If food carries too much bacteria, adding preservatives will not have any effect. Because of the large number of microorganisms in food, although their growth is inhibited to a certain extent, the absolute amount of microbial proliferation is still very large, and the preservatives are finally ineffective through their metabolic decomposition. Therefore, regardless of whether preservatives are used, strict hygiene management during processing is very important.
