Abstract
Water activity controls the microbial and chemical activities responsible for food stability, quality, and safety. Although moisture content plays a key role in the stability and preservation of food, foodstuffs with the same level of moisture content can differ significantly in safety and spoilage susceptibility. To meet the quality, safety, and shelf-life expectation desired by consumers, this chapter presents how aw concepts have been incorporated into food regulations and presents examples of industrial applications for product design, process control, transformation and preservation, and optimization of packaging and distribution conditions. Despite major food safety advances, foodborne diseases remain a worldwide problem. Polymer science principles, including the concepts of “water dynamics” and “glass dynamics” can be used to understand quality, safety, and stability as they allow considerations of the nonequilibrium nature of all “real-world”food products and processes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Water Activity in Foods |
| Subtitle of host publication | Fundamentals and Applications |
| Publisher | wiley |
| Pages | 465-482 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781118765982 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781118768310 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2020 |
Keywords
- Food industry
- Food quality
- Food safety
- Food stability
- Polymer science principles
- Shelf-life expectation
- Spoilage susceptibility
- Water activity
- Water activity management