Food chemistry
Subject of food chemistry is the composition of foods and their changes during production, storage and preparation. Thus, the analysis and laboratory work is in the foreground.
Tasks and objectives
The task of the food chemistry also extends to the areas of environmental protection, quality control, monitoring of food additives, cosmetics and consumer products as well as other specialties related with food. The target food chemistry is aware of the composition and effect of the food. The findings come in the ideal case will benefit consumers. See also: consumer protection.
Demarcation for Food Technology
The Food Chemistry is an independent research, teaching and examination subject in Germany. Only state-certified food chemists allowed to work in the official control of foodstuffs or as a freelance experts on behalf of food producers, examine left by the official control of foodstuffs counter samples. Although the reform of higher education has made it possible degrees such as Bachelor and Master in Food Chemistry, the State examination is therefore usually completion of food chemists. In many cases, the chemical analysis of foods is used to determine whether statutory requirements ( minimum quantities of value-determining ingredients, maximum levels for undesirable substances, evidence of unauthorized tampering ) have been complied with. The legal knowledge necessary to be acquired after studying in an internship at an official inspection facility and deepened. While studying in addition to the basic chemical disciplines ( inorganic, organic, physical and biochemistry ) and the special chemistry of the food is handled, the areas botany, microbiology, toxicology and food law. Technological processes which cause changes in the ingredients of the food to be treated from this point. Basically, the Food Chemistry all food groups as well as the cosmetic means and so-called commodities treated equally weighted. The processing and production of food under process-and machine- technical point of view is the subject of engineering- oriented food technology. Within the food technology, individual disciplines have emerged as independent subjects ( beverage, brewing technology, dairy technology, meat technology, cereal technology, packaging technology, canning technology). In Anglo-Saxon countries, this division does not exist - Food Chemistry and Technology are integrated there in the "Food Science".
History
After several discoveries of plant substances founded in 1813, the book Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, in a Course of Lectures for the Board of Agriculture (Elements of agricultural chemistry, in a row for the Agricultural Panel) by Sir Humphry Davy food chemistry. On the basis of this book began at many American universities, the selective examination of foods in terms of your ingredients. A large part of the findings of the 19th century also had Harvey W. Wiley.
In Germany Joseph King can be regarded as the founder of food chemistry as an independent science. His multi-volume work chemistry of human food, beverages and tobacco in 1878 conducted its first quality control in the food chemistry and made Munster a center of this branch of research. While the analysis of the ingredients stood in the 19th century in the foreground, were the effects of food on living organisms to another important field of research since the single -grain experiment at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Price
In Germany, Joseph King commemorative coin by the food Chemical Society has been awarded since 1934.