'New' or 'Compositionally Altered' grocery store products - Essay Example

Compositionally altered foods comprise those foods that have been modified in the manufacturing process - for example foods that are modified to contain less fat, or less sugar or more fibre, like low fat ice cream, reduced acid orange juice, and so on. While such food may be loosely classified under processed foods, it is worthwhile to note that processed foods really refer to products like pasteurised milk, frozen vegetables, cake mixes, and high calorie chips and cheese sticks. Compositionally altered foods typically appeal to certain segments of the population and manufacturers target their marketing efforts towards these people. Consider as an example, low calorie yoghurt. The manufacturer of this product uses a special process to produce this food item. Low calorie yoghurt is essentially low in sugar (achieved by substituting a low calorie sweetener like aspartame or saccharin instead of sugar), and it is almost lactose free. By reducing lactose to less than .1% through ultra-filtration and enzymatic hydrolysis, the manufacturer is able to reduce 60 to 70 calories from the product. The target consumer includes dieters and because of almost nil lactose in the finished product, lactose intolerant people as well. When stored under recommended temperatures and under conventional refrigeration, the product has a shelf life of about 30 days which is about the same as regular yoghurt. Low calorie yoghurts can be manufactured in the traditional style, the Swiss style or even with fruit mixed in. I am not a great fan of this type of yoghurt since I find it either too watery or too much like gelatine. Artificial cream is another compositionally altered food. It is merely imitation cream and is made entirely from non-dairy fats like vegetable oil and not butter fat although it contains emulsifiers like glycerides and phosphatides, and thickening agents like gum and starch. It contains no butyric acid but sweeteners or sugar could be added to sweeten the whip. This kind of cream has generally been accepted well by the average consumer because it is cheaper than real cream, has no dairy fat and most importantly has a longer shelf life as compared to real cream. Dieters love it. It appeases my conscience to use this versus full fat cream, although I am uncomfortable with the vegetable oil. Also, artificial cream is not a good replacement for real cream in all cases; it can become runny and quite unfit as a topping. A low fat cheese product, another example of altered food, is made by mixing milk with non-fat dry milk solids, a stabilizer like carrageenan and a lactic acid provider. This creates a cheese formulation solution to which a clotting enzyme like rennet is added. The solution is then coagulated to form a curd in a whey solution. The curd is then separated from the whey and ripened to form a low fat cheese product. The product is suitable for dieters and in some cases even for convalescing patients. It has a long shelf life - longer than standard cheese and to me tastes rather nice. Decaffeinated coffee is a favorite of a large segment of the population, especially those that drink multiple cups of coffee a day and believe that caffeine is harmful to their health. People with hypertension who have been advised to avoid caffeine also typically opt for this kind of coffee versus the regular one. Coffee can be decaffeinated in many ways but the steps are the same in all of them. The beans are first soaked in water to dissolve the caffeine. Next, the caffeine is extracted using a solvent or activated carbon like methylene chloride or ethyl acetate both of which have low boiling points.Finally the beans are re-soaked in the decaffeinated water so that they can reabsorb the flavor that was lost in the initial extraction.I am not fond of decaffeinated coffee at all and prefer to sip the regular one. The flavor of decaf coffee tastes poor to me and it is a fact that the decaffeination process alters both the flavor and aroma of the coffee beans. The shelf life of vacuum-packed roasted and ground coffee is long - two years if retained in the original container and stored at a temperature of 80F or less. Chocolates produced with sugar substitutes are a boon for diabetics, those who want a healthier life style and those who aim to reduce their carbohydrate intake. Popularly known as Diabetic Chocolates, this variety has fewer calories than regular chocolates, and uses sugar alcohols or polyols as sweetening agents. Many of these are gluten free as well. Many different brands of these chocolates are available in the market and each one claims a different shelf life - from one month to one year; some advice refrigeration for storage and some recommend storing at room temperature. I am not a fan of these chocolates. Diet Sodas are popular with Dieters and those who want to avoid eating sugar. Aspartame otherwise called Nutrasweet is used in its manufacture. The shelf life for these sodas is roughly between 13 and 39 weeks depending on whether the drink is stored in plastic or glass bottles or cans. In my opinion, there is a residual chemical taste in these sodas. Low fat ice cream - now that is something I am comfortable eating and many people will agree with me. The ice cream is manufactured using the conventional process, but it contains no trans-fat, is lactose free, and has no added high intensity sweeteners; a great alternative to traditional ice cream for dieters and diabetics. It has superior resistance to heat but the shelf life depends on how well the product is stored - ice crystals formation and temperature fluctuations are common problems. Under ideal freezer conditions, the life of the product compares well with traditional ice cream and can extend to as long as six months. Low sugar fruit and vegetable spreads are again very popular amongst the health conscious and the dieters. The manufacturing process largely depends on sugar substitutes to produce these low calorie products. A compromise that the consumer may consequently have to make is the loss of 'sensory (sweetness intensity, quality and flavor), visual (color, clarity and gloss), and textural (firmness, body, mouth feel, and spreadability) properties' as compared to their naturally sweetened counterparts. The manufacturing process involves combining the fruit or vegetable with one or more of the following ingredients - sweeteners, fruit juice concentrate, fructose or maltose corn syrup, polyols such as sorbitol, soluble dietary fiber such as inulin, and pectin. The mixture is then pasteurised. The use of high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization contributes to increasing the shelf stability of the fruit / vegetable spread. The heating and packaging steps which are conducted under closed conditions help to improve the shelf life as well by reducing product oxidation and eliminating the possibility of product contamination. When manufactured under such stringent conditions, indications are that the shelf-life of the product is significantly longer than one year. I have used a lot of these spreads and have been quite satisfied. Some consumers, particularly those suffering hyper-acidity and heart burn, prefer reduced acid orange juice to the regular one since it gentler on the stomach linings. The pulp is first removed from the juice by centrifugation and then passed through a weak base anion column, which reduces the citric acid content of the juice but allows the resin to retain the ascorbic and folic acid portions of the juice. His deacified juice is then blended back to unprocessed juice so as to to achieve the right balance of reduced acid and fresh juice tastes. The pulp can also be added back, or the juice can be sold as a reduced pulp juice. This kind of juice is my favorite. It has a shelf life of 6 to 8 months. Processed meat like cooked ham is popular with consumers and is a big time lunch favourite. Inulin, a soluble fibre which has good water binding properties and good process stability is used in the manufacture of these products. It is selectively fermented in the colon by the beneficial bifidobacteria, and it also suppresses the growth of harmful bacteria. Meat processors therefore use this product liberally so that their sausage product is loaded with the benefits of prebiotics. Unlike its insoluble fiber counterparts, inulin can be used in large quantities; it reduces fat content in cooked and raw sausages and there is no trade-off in the product smoothness. When stored in vacuum packed containers at the right temperature, these products have a long shelf life - up to 12 weeks. References: 1. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4956186.html, 2004 - 2008, Published 1990 2. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Artificial_cream, 2008 3. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP0294119, 2004 - 2008, Published 1995 4. http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5395630.html, 1995 5. http://www.coffeeresearch.org/science/decaffeination.htm, 2001-2006. Coffee Research Institute 6. http://www.chocobong.com/index.phpmain_page=page&id=5&chapter=0, 2008 7. http://www.amberlynchocolates.com/diabetic-chocolate.php, 2006 - 2008 8. http://www.sunkistsoda.com/noflash.html, 2008 9. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3301/is_/ai_n17114271, 2006 10. http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6599555/description.html, 2004 11. http://www.dow.com/liquidseps/prod/sp_orange.htm, 1995-2008 12. http://www.asiafoodjournal.com/article-4463-makingprocessedmeatsleaner-Asia.html, 2007 13. http://www.stormingmedia.us/28/2846/A284653.html, 2001 - 2008 Read More