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Methods of food preservation

Food preservation aims (1) to destroy microorganisms as by heat, or (2) to retard their growth by removal of moisture or the use of cold temperatures. Chemical changes are minimized by avoiding exposure to air and light, by reducing the environmental temperature, and by destroying enzymes.

Dehydration, one of the oldest methods of preservation, eliminates the moist environment that microorganisms need for their growth.

Freezing inactivates bacteria and enzymes. Foods stored in the home freezer at -18° С (0° F) may be left for several weeks or months (depending on the product) with minimum loss of texture, color, flavor, or nutritive value. Once foods are thawed, bacteria and enzymes are reactivated and the foods should be used promptly before spoilage can occur.

Freeze-drying consists in rapidly freezing the product and then removing the moisture in a vacuum.

Cookery. The cooking or baking of food leads to destruction of microorganisms and enzymes. Lower temperatures, such as those attained in a double boiler, are not sufficient to destroy some organisms, such as Salmonella in eggs. Some spores of bacteria and some toxins are not destroyed by the heat used in ordinary cooking methods.

Pasteurization is the application of heat to destroy pathogenic bacteria, but it does not sterilize the product. In the high-temperature, short-time process now widely used, milk is held at 160° F for at least 15 seconds. Milk and cream for the manufacture of cheese, ice cream, and butter is usually pasteurized.

Canning is still the primary means used to preserve foods for long periods of time. Home canning is far less frequent than at one time. Meat, poultry, and nonacid vegetables, such as corn, peas, and green beans, should be canned only with a pressure cooker for specified times in order to ensure destruction of the spores of CI. botulinum.

Chemical preservation. Sugar has some preservative effect when used in high concentrations for jams, jellies, and preserves, but molds will grow on the surfaces unless they are protected from air. Brine is used for pickles, sauerkraut, and pickled fish. Sodium benzoate may be used in a limited number of products, including margarine. Sulfur dioxide prevents the darkening of apples and apricots during dehydration. Calcium propionate in bread and sorbic acid in cheese wrappings retard mold growth.

Nutritive values of processed foods

Many people have the mistaken notion that processed foods have been robbed of their nutrients.” Commercial processing techniques today ensure maximum retention of nutrients. In fact, fruits and vegetables that have been frozen or canned at the peak of their quality may be higher in nutritive value than those sold as fresh in markets where the temperatures were too high or the products were held for too long a period.

In canned foods the water-soluble vitamins and minerals distribute evenly between the solid and liquid. Suppose one fourth of the contents were liquid, then up to one fourth of the water-soluble nutrients would be lost if the liquid were discarded. Thus, the general rule: use liquids in which foods have been canned or cooked.

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GENERAL HEALTH

Most drugstore-quality vitamins are made from synthetic chemicals – they are not derivatives of natural food substances. Although this is also true of some brands sold in health food stores, most vitamins sold in health food stores are concentrations of nutrients from such natural sources as rose hips, green peppers and acerola berries (vitamin C); brewer’s yeast, liver or rice polishing (vitamin B); fish liver oil, or lemon grass (vitamins A and D); vegetable oils (vitamin E); kelp (iodine); bone meal, egg shells and milk (minerals); etc.

There is a great deal of controversy regarding the difference and the usefulness of synthetic vs. natural vitamins. Natural health authorities usually claim that synthetic vitamins are useless, ineffective and extremely harmful. Most orthodox doctors and nutritionists claim that synthetic vitamins have a molecular chemical structure identical to the so-called natural vitamins, and that they are just as effective. Who is right?

I have made studies of world-wide vitamin research to find an intelligent answer to this question.

In Sweden, two groups of silver foxes were fed identical diets, but one group received a food supplement in the form of all the known synthetic B-vitamins; the control group received vitamins in the form of brewer’s yeast and liver. The synthetically fed animals failed to grow, had bad fur and acquired many diseases. Animals fed the natural vitamins grew normally, developed beautiful fur and enjoyed good health. Approximately similar results were demonstrated in other animal studies in various countries.

“On the whole, we can trust nature further than the chemist and his synthetic vitamins”, explained Dr. A. J. Carlson, of Chicago University.

We must keep in mind that in nature vitamins are never isolated. They are always present in the form of vitamin complexes. There are 24 known factors in vitamin C-complex. There are 22 known B-vitamin factors. E vitamin, as we know it, is composed of at least 9 natural tocopherols. And so on. When you take natural vitamins, as for instance in form of rose hips, brewer’s yeast or vegetable oil, you are getting all the vitamins and vitamin-like factors that naturally occur in these foods – that is, all those that are already discovered as well as those that are not discovered yet. Our knowledge of vitamins is not complete. New vitamins are discovered frequently. For example, it has been clinically demonstrated that foods which are naturally rich in B-vitamins, such as brewer’s yeast and liver, contain some potent, but as yet unidentified or isolated, B-vitamin factors. When you take your vitamins in the form of vitamin-rich supplements or in the form of “complexes”, you are getting the benefit of all the known as well as unknown vitamins.

Does this mean that synthetic vitamins are useless? Not necessarily. The rightful place of synthetic vitamins is in their therapeutic use where extremely large doses of easily-soluble and fast-acting vitamins are necessary. For example, Dr. W. J. McCormick, the world-famous authority on the therapeutic uses of vitamin C, has successfully used huge doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in acute cases of poisoning or infection, preferably intravenously. His treatments brought spectacular results and often saved lives. You cannot very well inject rose hips intravenously and get such results. Dr. Linus Pauling had used synthetic ascorbic acid to successfully prevent or cure the common cold. In huge doses, synthetic vitamins perform as fast-acting drugs. Their action is often more rapid than the action of natural vitamins. This fact can be invaluable in acute conditions of poisoning or ill health.

Vitamin E is a good example. Proponents of natural vitamins advise taking vitamin E-rich vegetable oils, particularly wheat germ oil instead of isolated vitamin E capsules. Or, if capsules are used, they advise taking vitamin E in the form of mixed tocopherols, as it occurs in nature. But, Drs. Evan and Wilfred Shute, the world’s foremost authorities on therapeutic uses of vitamin E, use only an isolated alpha-tocopherol in their successful practice and research work. They contend that alpha-tocopherol is the only active part of the vitamin E complex and that the other tocopherols are not necessary in therapeutic use.

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GENERAL HEALTH