Chapter 6 
The Food Processing Industry 
Introduction — the industry 
The food processing inclustrv comprises 
those manutacturers that transform or process 
agricultural products into edil)le products foi' 
market. It is distinguished from the pioduction, 
or farming and breeding [)ortions of the agricul- 
tural industry. 
(lenetics can he used in the food processing 
industry in two ways; to design micro-orga- 
nisms that transform inedible biomass into food 
for human consumf)tion or for animal feed: and 
to design organisms that aid in food processing, 
either by acting dii'ecth’ on the food itself or by 
prox iding materials that can he added to food. 
Eight million to ten million people work in the 
meat, poultry, dairx'. and baking industries: in 
canned, cured, and frozen food plants; and in 
mov ing food from the farm to the dinner table. 
In 1979, the payroll was ox er S3. 2 billion for the 
meat and poultrx industries, S2.6 billion for 
baking, and $1.9 billion for food processing. 
Single-cell protein 
The interest in augmenting the xxorld's sup- 
ply of protein has focused attention on micro- 
bial sources of protein as food for both animals 
and humans.* Since a large portion of each 
bacterial or yeast cell consists of proteins (up to 
72 percent for some protein-rich cells), large 
numbers hax e been groxx n to supply single-cell 
protein (SCP) for consumption. The protein can 
be consumed directly as part of the cell itself or 
can be extracted and processed into fibers or 
meat-like items. By noxx', adx anced food proc- 
essing technologies can combine this protein 
xvith meat flaxoring and other substances to 
produce nutritious food that looks, feels, and 
tastes like meat. 
*.As an e.xample of the potential significance of SCP. the So\ iet 
Union, which is one of the largest producers, e.xpects to produce 
enough fodder yeast from internally at ailable raw materials to be 
self-sufficient in animal protein foodstuffs by 1990. 
Traditionally, micro-organisms haxe been 
usetl to stabilize, flaxor, and modify various 
properties of food. More recently, efforts have 
been made to control microbial spoilage and to 
ensure that foods are free from micro-orga- 
nisms that may he hazardous to public health. 
These are the txxo major xxavs in xx hich micro- 
biology has been useful. 
Historically, most efforts haxe been devoted 
to improx ing the ability to control the harmful 
effects of micro-organisms. The industry recog- 
nized the extreme heat resistance of bacterial 
spores in the early 2()th century and sponsored 
or conducted much of the early research on the 
mechanisms of bacterial spore heat resistance. 
Efforts to exploit the beneficial characteristics 
of micro-organisms, on the other hand, have 
been largely through trial-and-error. Strains 
that improxe the quality or character of food 
generally have been found, rather than de- 
signed. 
The idea of using SCP as animal feed or 
human food is not nexv; yeast has been used as 
food protein since the beginning of the century. 
How'ex er, in the past 15 years, there has been a 
dramatic increase in research on SCP and in the 
construction of large-scale plants for its pro- 
duction, especially for the production of yeast. 
(See table 20.) Interest in this material is re- 
flected in the numerous national and interna- 
tional conferences on SCP, the increasing 
number of proceedings and reviews published, 
and the number of patents issued in recent 
years. (See table 21.) 
The issues addressed have covered topics 
such as the economic and technological factors 
influencing SCP processes, nutrition and safety, 
and SCP applications to human or animal foods. 
Thus far, commercial use has been limited by 
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