A Food Technology, Safety, and Quality program takes a hands-on approach to ensuring the quality and safety of food products, allowing students to gain specialized knowledge and skills for the industry today. Implementing the fundamental principles of quality assurance is essential in the food industry to ensure that products are safe for public consumption.
According to Job Bank data from the Government of Canada, the availability of positions in the food technology sector is expected to exceed the number of job seekers in the field. For those seeking a career in high demand, food safety and quality could be a good choice for you. If you’re looking to earn your professional diploma, read on to learn more about food processing techniques in the industry.
Food processing Classifications
As a student in our Food Technology, Safety and Quality program, you will discover the many benefits of food processing for quality assurance. These include:
- Preventing the loss of nutrients
- Extending the shelf life
- Reducing any microorganisms or insects that are present
- Preventing foodborne illnesses
- Delaying sprouting and ripening
When you pursue your food technology diploma, you will experience an integrated approach that provides students with the knowledge and skills to comply with national and international quality standards. When you begin your career, you will come across the three classification levels of food processing techniques.
- Primary food processing: involved turning raw agricultural products into consumable foods e.g. turning grain into flour
- Secondary food processing: involves using primary processing end products to prepare a ready-to-use product e.g. turning floud into bread mixture
- Tertiary processing: involves taking products from secondary processing to create products for packaging, sale, and consumption e.g. chips, tortillas
Learn about the three classifications of food processing for food quality assurance
Food Irradiation for Food Quality Assurance
Food irradiation is a common food processing technique used specifically to kill off any microorganisms or insects that may be present in the food. These can cause spoilage, disease, or loss of nutrients. As a food technology student, you will explore different modules of your course in our state-of-the-art lab to closely examine various food processing techniques.
The Radura symbol on labels indicates that the foods have been irradiated
Gamma rays, x-rays, and electron beam techniques are the three approved methods for irradiation. Irradiation doesn’t make the food radioactive, compromise nutritional quality, or noticeably change the taste, texture, or appearance of food. The FDA has approved a variety of foods for the irradiation process in the US for food quality assurance, such as beef, pork, crustaceans, fresh fruit, vegetables, and more.
Thermal Processing Techniques
Thermal processing is defined as the combination of temperature and time required to eliminate a desired number of microorganisms from a food product. When you decide to pursue your diploma at AAPS, you will become familiar with these methods of processing, and become qualified to work in quality assurance, product testing, research and development, and more.
Thermal processing involves heating foods to high temperatures to kill off bacteria
There are two categories of thermal processing: pasteurization and sterilisation. Pasteurization is a relatively mild heat treatment that heats food to less than 100°C. It is used to kill off heat-sensitive microorganisms to extend the shelf life of foods for several days. Sterilization is used to destroy all bacteria, including their spores. Temperatures in this process usually range from 110-121°C.
Are you interested in starting your career with food safety training?
Contact AAPS to learn more about our program!