Nutraceutical, a portmanteau the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical”, is a food or

food product that provides health and medical benefits, including the prevention and treatment of
disease. Health Canada defines the term as, "A nutraceutical is a product isolated or purified
from foods that is generally sold in medicinal forms not usually associated with food. A
nutraceutical is demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against
chronic disease." Such products may range from isolated nutrients, dietary supplements and
specific diets to genetically engineered foods, herbal products, and processed foods such as
cereals, soups, and beverages. 

With recent developments in cellular-level nutraceutical agents, researchers, and medical

practitioners are developing templates for integrating and assessing information from clinical
studies on complementary and alternative therapies into responsible medical practice. The term
nutraceutical was originally defined by Dr. Stephen L. DeFelice. Since the term was coined by
Dr. DeFelice, its meaning has been modified by Health Canada which defines nutraceutical as: a
product isolated or purified from foods, and generally sold in medicinal forms not usually
associated with food and demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide
protection against chronic disease.

Examples: beta-carotene, lycopene. 

Nutraceutical foods are not subject to the same testing and regulations as pharmaceutical
drugs.The following is an incomplete list of foods with reported medicinal value:

 Antioxidants: resveratrol from red grape products; flavonoids inside citrus, tea, wine, and

dark chocolate foods; anthocyanins found in berries
 Reducing hypercholesterolemia: soluble dietary fiber products, such as psyllium seed
husk

 Cancer prevention: broccoli (sulforaphane) fiddleheads (Matteuccia Struthiopteus)

 Improved arterial health: soy or clover (isoflavonoids)

 Lowered risk of cardiovascular disease: alpha-linolenic acid from flax or Chia seeds

In addition, many botanical and herbal extracts such as ginseng, garlic oil, etc. have been
developed as nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals are often used in nutrient premixes or nutrient
systems in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Over the past few years a number of new food ingredients labelled as being nutraceuticals
have been launched on the food and pharmaceutical market. These include components that have
a proven beneficial effect on human health, such as low-calorie sugars and B vitamins. Lactic
acid bacteria, in particular Lactococcus lactis, have been demonstrated to be ideal cell factories
for the production of these important nutraceuticals. Developments in the genetic engineering of
food-grade microoganisms means that the production of certain nutraceuticals can be enhanced
or newly induced through overexpression and/or disruption of relevant metabolic genes.
 Quality and Process Control in Food industry

 
INTRODUCTION
 
Quality control is the sum of all those controllable factors that ultimately influence positively or
negatively the quality of the finished product e.g. selection of raw materials, processing methods,
packaging, methods of storage distribution etc. Quality is defined as any of the features that
make something what it is or the degree of excellence or superiority. The word "quality" is used
in various ways as applied to food. Quality product to the salesman means one of high quality
and usually at an expensive nature. Likewise for fresh produce, the word "quality" refers to the
attributes of the food which make it agreeable to the person who eats it. This involves positive
factors like colour, flavour, texture and nutritive value as well as the negative characteristic such
as freedom from harmful micro-organisms and undesirable substances.
 
The term control does not imply that a poor raw material can be converted into a good finished
product. In food processing, the general rule is that the effective methods must be carefully
applied to conserve the original qualities of the raw materials. Processing cannot improve the
raw material.
 
The aim of quality control is to achieve as good and as consistent a standard of quality in the
product being produced as is compatible with the market for which the product is designed.
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF QUALITY CONTROL
 
The principles of quality control are considered under the following:
              Raw material control
              Process control
              Finished product inspection
 
Invariably, once a food product has been through a manufacturing process, little can be done to
alter its quality. Thus examination of finished products only permits acceptance of material
reaching the desired standard and rejection of material which fails to reach this standard. Such a
process is therefore one of inspection and not one of control. It can be claimed that if control of
raw materials and control of process is perfect, the final product will not require inspection.
However, in practice it is seldom possible to guarantee complete control over raw materials and
processing conditions and thus a greater or lesser degree of finished product inspection will be
necessary, depending on circumstances within the factory. It is economically desirable to
concentrate on ensuring that inspection (and rejection) at the finished product stage is reduced to
a nominal level by effective raw material and process controls.
 
In a food processing industry the stores and warehouses often contain a large range of raw
materials. Raw materials such as artificial colouring, spices and essences may be used slowly and
may deteriorate on long storage. Others such as wheat or milk powder may be rapidly replaced in
the flour and milk industry respectively. Fresh meat is highly perishable and requires good
refrigeration where sugar, salt etc. may be very stable and only requires a cool dry condition to
remain in excellent condition for a long period. It's not every single raw material which must be
subjected to detailed examination and testing at frequent intervals. Those used in insignificant
amounts can be omitted from frequent inspection since the cost of inspection will often far
outweigh the advantages gained.
 
In any product, there is a dominant raw material (sometimes it could be several of these) upon
which the quality of the finished product is mainly dependent e.g. in bread production, flour is
the essential raw material, malt for beer, wheat for flour etc.
 
RAW MATERIAL SELECTION AND PRODUCT QUALITY
 
The following are the rules of quality control:
 
I.              The dominant raw material (s) are selected for priority of attention
2.             The selected raw materials are tested in relation to their contribution to product quality.
3.             The raw materials tested are released from the stores only after the test resultshave
been properly recorded.
4.             Process control must relate the processing results to the raw materials test.
5              Define the critical points in the process and concentrate on these.
6.             Finished product inspection should be reduced to the minimum level compatible
withthe confidence justified by the raw materials and process control.
7.             Quality control is effective in proportion to its degree of integration into the
overallorganisation of the factory.
 
The formulation of the type of sampling and the test applied must reflect in the finished product.
The test must be fast, simple and suited to the purpose but the same time reliable to enable the
laboratory to give authorization to the factory to use the raw material. This test can be chemical,
physical, bacteriological.
 
Careful planning is necessary for release of raw test results. The factory must not be deprived of
an essential raw material while it awaits quality control clearance. Pressures of production are
invariable high and nothing brings a quality control system more quickly into disrepute than
delays while testing is carried out. When there is good cooperation management delays can be
avoided. This means that the work of quality control must be integrated with the factory
management plan.
 
It is evident that raw material control and process control arc inter-related. It is difficult to
discuss raw material control without reference to process control and it is also equally difficult to
talk of process control without assuming that proper raw material controls are simultaneously in
operation and that the dominant raw materials are known to have reached the standards required
for proper processing.
 
In planning a process control scheme, one must first and foremost list in sequence the steps in the
process and put it in a flow diagram. Each step is considered critically and against it sources of
deviation is prepared. From this list a number of points in the process will be recognised as
critical points (CP) at which trouble may arise which may be reflected in the quality of the
finished product.
  
Quality control is one aspect of the overall control production which in its totality, constitutes the
management function. Stock control, production management, plant maintenance and sales
budgeting are terms used by management to describe activities directed towards achieving the
purposes of the organization within the limits of its resources. The concept behind the terms used
is the coordinated direction of efforts towards an idealized optimum situation in which maximum
results are achieved with minimum effort. As society becomes more complex, management
activities may be directed not merely to achieving the maximum profit as shown in the annual
accounts in any years, but to producing what might be described as a situation of profit growth.
 
 
In a large food factory the team will be multi-disciplinary that is, a microbiologist, processing
specialist, chemist, biochemist, engineer, packaging technologist, sales, staff, training and
personnel managers. For medium and small scale, the quality control and production managers
and few supporting staff like sales and administrative managers should be enough. If they do not
have qualified personnel on the payroll, they must prepared to buy assistance from outside
consultants in order to implement the system. When the team is assembled, their terms of
reference must be clearly defined and agreed by the group.
 
Quality control managers and supervisors can improve the date upon which yields are calculated
by using the knowledge of the properties of in-coming raw materials. On the other hand,
production control, with its detailed knowledge of movements of materials may provide
information of value in improving quality control's sampling methods, etc. However, good
personal relations between those concerned are essential if co-operation is to be obtained.
  
CONCLUSION
 
Quality control is a dynamic concept which evolves from initial plan as experience grows. It
scans every day's production. Day-to-day experience of the variables to met leads sometimes to
simplification of original plan. The introduction of improved machinery may also affect the
original plan. Year-to-year experience of raw material variability increases the degree of
certainty of predictions based on raw material testing. The bacteriological safety of a pack is a
factor involving the growth of confidence as experience grows.
 
In the industrialized world, all food processing is linked to quality control. They do operate
systematic quality control scheme. There are lots of mechanized control techniques and these are
linked with improvements in processing machinery. Thus, although quality control started with a
chemist, it may well be developed by an engineer.
 
From these considerations, it is tempting to speculate that in the 21st century, there will be a
possibility of centralizing all forms of control and using modern data processing methods to
obtain an integrated picture of events at any moment during the production schedule, and at the
same time to provide continuous monitoring of the schedule to allow very rapid adjustments to
fluctuating demand and changing circumstances. It is perhaps not too fantastic to suggest that the
manager of the future may sit at a desk provided with dials showing him the sales current level,
the current production level, the production efficiency level, the running profit margin and the
running quality index. There seems no fundamental reason why such a system could not be
devised to process continuous incoming information.

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and
appearance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food
by pickling (with vinegar), salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in
some wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the 20th century, many
more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin.

Categories
Food additives can be divided into several groups, although there is some overlap between them.
Acids 
Food acids are added to make flavors "sharper", and also act as preservatives and
antioxidants. Common food acids include vinegar, citric acid, tartaric acid,malic
acid, fumaric acid, and lactic acid.
Acidity regulators 
Acidity regulators are used to change or otherwise control the acidity and alkalinity of
foods.
Anticaking agents 
Anticaking agents keep powders such as milk powder from caking or sticking.
Antifoaming agents 
Antifoaming agents reduce or prevent foaming in foods.
Antioxidants 
Antioxidants such as vitamin C act as preservatives by inhibiting the effects of oxygen on
food, and can be beneficial to health.
Bulking agents 
Bulking agents such as starch are additives that increase the bulk of a food without
affecting its taste.
Food coloring 
Colorings are added to food to replace colors lost during preparation, or to make food
look more attractive.
Color retention agents 
In contrast to colorings, color retention agents are used to preserve a food's existing color.
Emulsifiers 
Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion, as
in mayonnaise, ice cream, and homogenized milk.
Flavors 
 Flavors are additives that give food a particular taste or smell, and may be derived from
natural ingredients or created artificially.
Flavor enhancers 
Flavor enhancers enhance a food's existing flavors. They may be extracted from natural
sources (through distillation, solvent extraction, maceration, among other methods) or
created artificially.
Flour treatment agents 
Flour treatment agents are added to flour to improve its color or its use in baking.
Glazing agents
Glazing agents provide a shiny appearance or protective coating to foods.
Humectants 
Humectants prevent foods from drying out.
Tracer gas
Tracer gas allow for package integrity testing to prevent foods from being exposed to
atmosphere, thus guaranteeing shelf life.
Preservatives 
Preservatives prevent or inhibit spoilage of food due to fungi, bacteria and
other microorganisms.
Stabilizers 
Stabilizers, thickeners and gelling agents, like agar or pectin (used in jam for example)
give foods a firmer texture. While they are not true emulsifiers, they help to
stabilize emulsions.
Sweeteners 
Sweeteners are added to foods for flavoring. Sweeteners other than sugar are added to
keep the food energy (calories) low, or because they have beneficial effects for diabetes
mellitus and tooth decay and diarrhea.
Thickeners 
Thickening agents are substances which, when added to the mixture, increase
its viscosity without substantially modifying its other properties.

Food preservation by salt and sugar:

The salt is a water absorbent and hence removes water from any food. In absence of
water bacteria don't multiply and hence act as preservative. Basically, salt works by
drying food. Salt absorbs water from foods, making the environment too dry to support
harmful mold or bacteria.
1. Reducing water content through salt curing ;we mixed the salt with raw vegetables,
fish and fruits it build osmotic pressure and water started draining from the cells
(movement of low contraction liquid to high concentration); low moisture content stuff
spoil very late. Have you noticed when mother prepare pickle; the mango pieces are
kept with salt for two days. It is just for preservation.
2. Generally, food spoilage micro organisms are hallophobic (salt fearing) and salt provide a
protective layer on food to spoil.
 Many foods decay very rapidly after harvesting, especially meats. A combination of salt and
sugar reduces the water content of meats, fruits and vegetables aiding in preservation. In
meats sugar and salt curing is typically accompanied by smoking or some other cooking
method. Most preservation methods used since ancient times attempt to reduce water content
to between 10 and 50 percent, a level that reduces decay but maintains palatability.
Effects of Salt
Sodium chloride or table salt is the main ingredient used in the preservation of meats. Salting
meat draws water out and tying up the water within, making it unavailable for chemical reactions
that cause decay. High concentrations of salt also interfere with the replication of
microorganisms such as bacteria.
Salt curing frequently uses salts containing nitrates. Nitrates act as antioxidants in preserved
foods, preventing decay and spoilage through oxidation and free radical generation. However,
high consumption of preserved foods containing nitrates may be linked to a higher risk of cancer.
Effects of Sugar
Just like with salt, some forms of sugar can draw water out of food and tie up water within the
food so it is not available for biochemical reactions. According to the Food and Agriculture
Organization, fructose and sucrose are very effective for preserving food while glucose is not.
Sugar may also encourage the growth of healthy bacteria that prevent bacteria that will make you
sick from growing. High concentrations of sugar also exert osmotic pressure that will draw water
out of bacteria, preventing them from growing.
Water Content in Preserved Foods
At lower water content, bacterial, fungal and mold growth is inhibited and the enzymatic and
non-enzymatic decay of food is slowed. Preserved foods should be kept in a cool and dry
environment to discourage bacterial growth and spoilage. Most food preservation techniques
currently used, combine methods of smoking, drying, sugar and salt, preservatives, refrigeration,
acidity and others with the idea that bacteria and other microorganisms cannot jump over all the
hurdles in place.

Food Spoilage is the process in which food deteriorates to the point in which it is not edible
to humans or its quality of edibility becomes reduced. Various external forces are responsible for
the spoilage of food. Food that is capable of spoiling is referred to as perishable food.

Reasons

Harvested foods decompose from the moment they are harvested due to attacks from enzymes,
oxidation and microorganisms. These include bacteria, mold, yeast, moisture, temperature and
chemical reaction.
Bacteria
Bacteria can be responsible for the spoilage of food. When bacteria breaks down the
food, acids and other waste products are created in the process. While the bacteria itself may or
may not be harmful, the waste products may be unpleasant to taste or may even be harmful to
one's health.
Yeasts
Yeasts can be responsible for the decomposition of food with high sugar content. The same
effect is useful in the production of various types of food and beverages, such
as bread, yogurt, cider, and alcoholic beverages.
Signs of food spoilage may include an appearance different from the food in its fresh form, such
as a change in color, a change in texture, an unpleasant odor, or an undesirable taste. The item
may become softer than normal. If mold occurs, it is often visible externally on the item.

Food borne disease

Food borne illness (also food borne disease and colloquially referred to as food poisoning) is
any illness resulting from the consumption of contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses,
or parasites that contaminate food, as well as chemical or natural toxins such as poisonous
mushrooms.
Symptoms vary depending on the cause. A few broad generalizations can be made, e.g.:
The incubation period ranges from hours to days, depending on the cause and on how much was
consumed. The incubation period tends to cause sufferers to not associate the symptoms with the
item consumed, and so to cause sufferers to attribute the symptoms to stomach flu for example.
Symptoms often include vomiting, fever, and aches, and may include diarrhea. Bouts of
vomiting can be repeated, with an extended delay in between, because even if infected food was
eliminated from the stomach in the first bout, microbes (if applicable) can have passed through
thestomach into the intestine, attached to the cells lining the intestinal walls, and begun to
multiply there. Some types of microbes stay in the intestine, some produce a toxin that is
absorbed into the bloodstream, and some can directly invade deeper body tissues.
Food borne illness usually arises from improper handling, preparation, or food storage.
Good hygiene practices before, during, and after food preparation can reduce the chances of
contracting an illness. There is a consensus in the public health community that regular hand-
washing is one of the most effective defenses against the spread of food borne illness. The action
of monitoring food to ensure that it will not cause food borne illness is known as food safety.
Food borne disease can also be caused by a large variety of toxins that affect the environment.
For food borne illness caused by chemicals, sea food contaminants.
 Foodborne illness can also be caused by pesticides or medicines in food and naturally toxic
substances such as poisonous mushrooms or reef fish.
What is foodborne illness?
Foodborne illness (also called food poisoning) is an illness caused by eating foods that have
harmful organisms in them. These harmful germs can include bacteria, parasites, and viruses.
They are mostly found in raw meat, chicken, fish, and eggs, but they can spread to any type of
food. They can also grow on food that is left out on counters or outdoors or is stored too long
before you eat it. Sometimes foodborne illness happens when people don't wash their hands
before they touch food.
Most of the time, foodborne illness is mild and goes away after a few days. All you can do is
wait for your body to get rid of the germ that is causing the illness. But some types of foodborne
illness may be more serious, and you may need to see a doctor.

What are the symptoms?

The first symptom of foodborne illness is usually diarrhea. You may also feel sick to your
stomach, vomit, or have stomach cramps. Some foodborne illness can cause a high fever and
blood in your stool. How you feel when you have foodborne illness mostly depends on how
healthy you are and what germ is making you sick.

If you vomit or have diarrhea a lot, you can get dehydrated. Dehydration means that your body
has lost too much fluid.
How do harmful germs get into food?
Germs can get into food when:

 Meat is processed. It is normal to find bacteria in the intestines of healthy animals that
we use for food. Sometimes the bacteria get mixed up with the parts of those animals that we eat.
 The food is watered or washed. If the water used to irrigate or wash fresh fruits and
vegetables has germs from animal manure or human sewage in it, those germs can get on the
fruits and vegetables.
 The food is prepared. When someone who has germs on his or her hands touches the
food, or if the food touches other food that has germs on it, the germs can spread. For example, if
you use the same cutting board for chopping vegetables and preparing raw meat, germs from the
raw meat can get on the vegetables.
How will you know if you have foodborne illness?
Because most foodborne illness is mild and goes away after a few days, most people don't go to
the doctor. You can usually assume that you have foodborne illness if other people who ate the
same food also got sick.

How is it treated?
 In most cases, foodborne illness goes away on its own in 2 to 3 days. All you need to do is rest
and get plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration from diarrhea. Drink a cup of water or
rehydration drink (such as Pedialyte) each time you have a large, loose stool. Soda and fruit
juices have too much sugar and shouldn't be used to rehydrate.

Antibiotics usually aren't used to treat foodborne illness. Medicines that stop diarrhea
(antidiarrheals) can be helpful, but they should not be given to infants or young children. You
shouldn't take antidiarrheals if you have a high fever or have blood in the diarrhea, because they
can make your illness worse.

If you think you are severely dehydrated, you may need to go to the hospital.

How can you prevent foodborne illness?

You can prevent most cases of foodborne illness with these simple steps:

 Clean. Wash your hands often and always before you touch food. Keep your knives,
cutting boards, and counters clean. You can wash them with hot, soapy water, or put items in the
dishwasher and use a disinfectant on your counter. Wash fresh fruits and vegetables.
 Separate. Keep germs from raw meat from getting on fruits, vegetables, and other foods.
Put cooked meat on a clean platter, not back on the one that held the raw meat.
 Cook. Make sure that meat, chicken, fish, and eggs are fully cooked.
 Chill. Refrigerate leftovers right away. Don't leave cut fruits and vegetables at room
temperature for a long time.
 When in doubt, throw it out. If you aren't sure if a food is safe, don't eat it.

Post harvest technology:

In agriculture, postharvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately
following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. The instant a crop is
removed from the ground, or separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate. Postharvest
treatment largely determines final quality, whether a crop is sold for fresh consumption, or used
as an ingredient in a processed food product.
The most important goals of post-harvest handling are keeping the product cool, to avoid
moisture loss and slow down undesirable chemical changes, and avoiding physical damage such
as bruising, to delay spoilage. Sanitation is also an important factor, to reduce the possibility
of pathogens that could be carried by fresh produce, for example, as residue
fromcontaminated washing water.
After the field, post-harvest processing is usually continued in a packing house. This can be a
simple shed, providing shade and running water, or a large-scale,
sophisticated, mechanized facility, with conveyor belts, automated sorting and packing stations,
walk-in coolers and the like. In mechanized harvesting, processing may also begin as part of the
actual harvest process, with initial cleaning and sorting performed by the harvesting machinery.
Initial post-harvest storage conditions are critical to maintaining quality. Each crop has an
optimum range for storage temperature and humidity. Also, certain crops cannot be effectively
stored together, as unwanted chemical interactions can result. Various methods of high-speed
cooling, and sophisticated refrigerated and atmosphere-controlled environments, are employed to
prolong freshness, particularly in large-scale operations.
Regardless of the scale of harvest, from domestic garden to industrialized farm, the basic
principles of post-harvest handling for most crops are the same: handle with care to avoid
damage (cutting, crushing, bruising), cool immediately and maintain in cool conditions, and cull
(remove damaged items)