ABSTRACT
The problem of food spoilage has plagued humans throughout history. As early humans evolved from a gathering and hunting life style to raising crops and keeping animals, they were forced to store their own food. Early attempts to preserve foods involved use of sugars, spices, salts, and wood smoke. Today, however, preservation has used such factors as temperature, water activity, pH, gases, organic acids, salts, antibiotics, irradiation, packaging, and various combinations of these factors. No matter which factors are selected, use of the proper antimicrobial is dependant on the chemical properties of the antimicrobial; properties and composition of the food product; type of preservation system, other than the chemical, used in the food; type, characteristics, and number of microorganism; safety of the antimicrobial and cost effectiveness of the antimicrobial (Ray 2001).
