The Food Doctor

I am a food scientist, a term that may be misunderstood by a lot of people. What I do is figure out how companies can mass produce their food items based on original formulas and recipes so that those products will taste like expected later on.

by Tracy Hunter via Flickr

One might not know how hard it is to get something like this right, but all you have to do is think about making something as simple as cornbread and mixing together two boxes of ingredients at once instead of just one. You might initially believe that if you’re going to do this that all you have to do is double everything. However, you find that when you bake the cornbread, it’s not coming out quite as you thought it might. Maybe the middle doesn’t cook all that well or the outside gets burned, or maybe it doesn’t spread the way you expected it to in the pan.

In that small experiment, you realize that you have to change many things, from how long you bake to what temperature to even how much of the other ingredients you should put into your cornbread mix. Do you put more or less milk in? What about the eggs?

If things can go wrong with something that simple, imagine what it’s like when you’re looking to make thousands, if not millions, of a product at one time in a factory. The chemistry alone can be daunting. It’s not just ingredients or temperature at a certain point. It’s the type of oven or vat you’re cooking in, how you’re putting your product into its packaging, how long it should cook or cool, the order of ingredients, the power of spices… so many things. Many times the corrections are minor, but it could take weeks of testing to figure it out. Other times the corrections are major and costly; there are a lot of great products that never make it to market because it would cost too much to create them.

This is one reason why homemade products, or products made locally, cost so much more than products from large companies. Local products are made in smaller quantities to retain their quality, while larger companies might end up cutting some corners to get out what they do. Don’t take my word for it; make some rice krispie treats, then go out and buy a box of them, and taste them yourself. I believe you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

Question – Is frozen yogurt actually healthier than ice cream made with pure cream, and if so why?

Answer: YES and NO-Depending on the Manufacturer/Brand name because of the ‘live’ GOOD bacteria that promotes gut/colon health. Also yogurt has less fat and sugars than ice cream. Please read the Ingredients list to make sure what is in it.

Main reason is yogurt has lactic acid bacteria for intestinal health and immune system in general. Another reason is the amount of FAT in ice cream compared to Frozen Yogurt. Yogurt is made from low fat or regular fat milk (3.5% fat). Ice cream is usually 10 % to 16% fat.

Question – Since white bread is made from wheat why is it bad for you?

Answer: White bread is made from part of the wheat without bran, complex carbohydrates, fiber, germ and all good things. It is just starch and also is lower in protein than Whole Wheat bread.

Q. How long does it take for food poisoning to occur after eating something, and can you cook the bad stuff out of everything if you cook it on high enough heat?

Answer to this Yes & NO. Read on…….

Answer: Food Poisoning is mainly TWO kinds:

A. Microbiological,
B. Chemical.

A. MICROBIOLOGICAL has three sub categories (a) Contamination during manufacturing or preparation and (b) Under processing (Equipment malfunction) & (c) Post Process Contamination (the processed food in the container-can, carton, pouch, etc) get contaminated/infected after it is properly processed to make it safe for storage and consumption much, much later..

     (a) Contamination: This is mainly due to Unsanitary practices, i.e., not washing the prep area/utensils (knives, cutting boards, etc), properly, fruits and vegetables coming from the field, cross-contamination, i.e., same area used to prepare meats such as poultry, fish, pork, beef and other meats and fresh vegetables served as salads and garnishes prepared on the same area using same knives and other utensils. Getting sick from fruits and vegetables and contaminated foods depends on the contaminant (E.Coli, Fast Food places and other Food Establishments are most common for this kind of food poisoning. Pathogenic type, Salmonella, (certain Viruses, etc) that are very VIRULENT, i.e. their MID (Minimum Infection Dose) is very small. For Children, infants and older adults it could be fatal (because of the smaller body mass and/or debilitated immune system).

How quickly you get SICK after eating this type of contaminated food depends on ‘how much contaminated food was eaten’. These pathogens have to multiply in your system and trigger response by your defenses(fever, vomiting, head ach, etc).

     (b) Under processing (Equipment malfunction): Canned Foods get microbiological (Bacteria, Yeast, Mold, Virus, etc.) sterilization processing. Botulinum Toxin is produced by surviving spores of Clostridium Botulinum bacteria.

This is one of the deadliest of BACTERIAL toxins. However, this toxin is easily destroyed by cooking (boiling the canned food). YES: This is the TOXIN that is destroyed by cooking the contaminated food.

     (c) Another type of Food Poisoning is by eating the food in which toxin is already produced by the bacterial growth. The bacteria are destroyed by their own toxin (e.g.: endotoxin by Staphylococcus Aureus).

NO: This toxin CAN NOT be destroyed by COOKING any length of time or even pressure cooking.

It is very difficult to detect this problem by looks of the food-flavor, color, smell, etc. The common foods are cooked: meats, fish, vegetables, etc., those that are NOT acidic (pH above 5.0) and stored un-hygienically. At Room temperature these bacteria can grow overnight and produce toxin. In refrigerator they still can grow, but slower. When hot food is put in a container and put in refrigerator while it is still hot they grow. Best thing to do is let the food cool before transferring in to a clean container for storing in refrigerator. As a rule of thumb any food stored in refrigerator for more than 3 days should be discarded.

Typical symptoms after eating these types of food are stomach-cramps, headache, some times vomiting and diarrhea.

How soon you get sick: couple of hours, depending on how much you ate!!!

B. Chemical Food Poisoning: There are several sources starting from the field: insecticides, disinfectants in washing water, accidental contamination, etc. These are rare in US produced foods. Not so in some imports (Example: melamine in infant formulas from China!!!).

Question – How long does it take for food poisoning to occur after eating something, and can you cook the bad stuff out of everything if you cook it on high enough heat? Food Poisoning is mainly of three kinds: 1. MICROBIOLOGICAL: Spoiled food due to microbiological growth of “BAD” – Bacteria, Yeast, Molds and [...]

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