Quality and the food industry

Abstract

Prehistoric man lived at first as a hunter-gatherer, following the migrations of food animals and surviving according to the dictates of the seasons and the influences of dramatic climate change. The evolution of farming and the domestication of animals laid the foundations of society and necessitated the production of foods for storage and use in times of shortage. Consequently, food preservation techniques were developed and notable among the earliest are drying, curing and fermentation. Fallen figs, dates and grapes dry naturally and deduction would have led to the drying of fish and meat. Tannahill (1988) reports the link between salt used by the ancient Egyptians for food preservation and for the embalming of bodies. The contamination of salt with sodium nitrate and its reduction to nitrite would confer additional preservative benefits with the inhibition of pathogenic microorganisms. The natural fermentation of milk as the result of microbial contamination and the storage of milk in containers made from goats’ and sheep’s stomachs would have led to products such as kefir and cheese. Vinegar made from contaminated and fermented wine with additional yeast, salt and honey was used by the Romans to preserve fruit, vegetables and fish (Renfrew, 1985). With experience and observations made over many thousands of years, man has perfected various methods of food preservation which have become the basis of the food industry today.