Historic and structural overview of processing: household vs industrial

Apuntes

It is widely accepted by today’s anthropology that the invention and continuous development of thermal food treatment had a substantial, if not the major impact on phenotypical, intellectual, societal and economic develop- ment of mankind [2]. Since the late 19th century, the focus began to change from home cooking to more industrialized processes with initially an emphasis on preservation and later on (1920–1930s) safety (microbial safety) and quality issues, especially nutritional quality issues after the Second World War. Meanwhile new technologies became available, such as steam and irradiation treatments to the use of micro- waves. This has revolutionized the way home cooking is nowadays done, with the availability and use of semi- finished processed foods in everyday cooking. With the availability of modern technology, it becomes possible to pay more attention to gastronomic issues of foods. It is esti- mated that 80–90% of foods used in home cooking are semi-processed and therefore it makes sense to consider the beneficial effects of processing on safety and quality of food [3]. Food-processing methods started with heating in bottles and cans, as developed by Appert and late...