If products go below 6, it will stop the grow.

If products go
below 5 (like pickles) , they will die. However, as in most
cases there are exceptions. Certain bacteria prefer a very
sour environment, like the vinegar bacteria or milk and
yogurt bacteria. These are actually beneficial to the humans,
as we love vinegar and cheese. Also above the 7 pH level,
there are lots of bacteria that love to stay in that
environment. Every level that is higher than 7 pH, is called
“alkaline” and is very bitter. The higher the level, the more
bitter it becomes. Especially in eggs, shellfish and in olives
are bacteria that can resist the higher pH level. These
bacteria are in most cases dangerous to the humans, like the
salmonella bacteria, which can even kill humans in bad
situations.
Yeast and mold can live easily in products that have a high
or low pH level. (cheese for example).

pH scale, from 0 to 14
High acid Low acid Low alkaline High alkaline
Neutral

0 4.6 7.0 10 14 14

Danger zone

pH scale, from 0 to 14

Oxygen

We can divide micro organisms into several levels regarding

to oxygen.
- aerobe micro organisms. These need oxygen to grow.
Most molds and yeast belong to this family.
- anaerobe micro organisms. These can grow WITHOUT
oxygen. These bacteria are dangerous to us humans.
- facultative micro organisms. These can live with or
without oxygen. Mostly these are the yeast and
bacteria. So, that’s why bacteria can still grow into
vacuum packed products.

There are also micro organisms that need other micro

organisms to multiply or simply to exist. However, as this is a
more scientific subject, we will not discuss this group of
micro organisms in this training.

3.1 Mold and fungus

Mold and fungus are very frequent the cause of food

spoilage. They can grow on almost all food products. They
exist out of more than one cell, which look like a “hairy” web
on the surface of the product. Mold and fungus can also go

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