Chemistry and the Techniques on Evaluating Food Quality

How do we use chemistry when evaluating our food quality?

Quick Glance: Sensory Evaluations

Our senses evoke many thoughts and are often reminders of experiences from the past. The smell of apples as you walk through a grocery store. This might remind someone of a wonderful experience as a child picking apples and enjoying family time on a crisp fall day. Our senses play a huge role in the food decisions that we make. Often, those manufacturers are counting on our senses to come into play when making food product choices. They use diverse types of evaluation methods to determine if a product will make it to market. Sensory evaluations, as well as quality control, is a crucial aspect of the Food Manufacturing market. You will learn more about that process in this unit.

Explore: Quality Control

Quality control. What does that mean?

Food must be constantly measured to assure superior quality and consumer protection. These tests of food quality are important in the food industry especially for routine quality control of food products. There are two main categories of testing. Sensory which is more subjective and is based on using the human sensory organs. Second, there is Objective, which is based on testing and standards. Both processes are important to the quality control of our food supply.

Sensory Characteristics of Food

Remember that sensory characteristics are more subjective and based on using the human sensory organs. We will evaluate the following: appearance, color, flavor, odor, taste, and mouth feel.

Let’s look a little more closely at how we evaluate these sensory characteristics.

Objective Characteristics of Food

The Objective-based ways to measure food are based less on sensory and perception and more on science. This evaluation method gives manufacturers hardcore data and numbers. There may be exclusive use of tools and scales for this type of measurement. We will explore two types below-Physical and Chemical Methods.

Click on each type of measurement below to learn more.

Why There Is A Need For Testing?

Most manufacturers do months and years’ worth of testing before they bring a product to the marketplace. They want to make sure of the success and quality before it hits the shelves. A few questions a company might ask of consumers and test subjects are below-

How is your product different from others in the marketplace?
Is the latest formulation different from the last one?
How do formula and processing changes affect the product?
What changes occur in the product as it ages?
What are the likes and dislikes for the product?
Will the product user remember the product’s sensory characteristics?

After gathering data and material from the questions above, companies will move to the next step which is often conducting evaluations. There are several various kinds of evaluations that may be completed for different reasons. No matter the type of evaluation the main goal is to make sure you are developing a product that consumers will want to purchase, it is safe for consumption, and will be enjoyed by different demographics of the population.

Challenge

So, how does chemistry play a role in how we evaluate food? Try the challenge below to test your knowledge.

Takeaway: What Is Your Takeaway?

Being color blind affects how to choose foods.

Did you ever think how difficult it would be to select ripe veggies if you couldn't tell what color they are? Being that color is the single most important cue when it comes to consumers’ expectations of taste and flavor. Some foods can look unfavorable if one is color blind. Green vegetables like broccoli and beans look gray. It also might be hard to tell if a piece of meat is rare or well done. Is it ketchup or chocolate sauce? Are you drinking Orange Fanta or Cherry? Luckily, many items are labeled as to what they are. But, others may not be. Many food items can be confused when people are color blind. So, keep this in mind the next time you are making a food choice. And, help your friends and family members that might have an issue distinguishing color.

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