Chemistry and Hygiene of Food Gases

The food gases are supplied to the food industry as additives, supports or in contact with food ingredients and as such must respect very strict standards in order to come into contact with foodstuffs and therefore in order to ensure food security. In particular, they must comply with precise rules on labeling, purity and hygiene criteria. The relevant legislation was inspired by the White Paper on Food Safety, published in 2000 by the European Commission which has defined the environmental, public health, animal health and consumer protection as joint objectives, freedom of competition. EC Regulation 178 of 2002 defines a food as any substance produced, processed or distributed to be ingested or are reasonably expected to be ingested. The food gases are used in the food industry in different applications and can enter directly into the process of transformation, packaging and transport of food. Due to applications of food gases in the greenhouses, in the disinfestation of crops, in fish, in cooling and freezing processes, in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), in transport refrigeration and carbonation of beverages, it is possible help reduce losses and waste within the food chain. In particular, the use of food gases may limit the food losses resulting from an inefficient agricultural process or by technological limitations in the different phases of storage, transportation, processing, cooling or packaging. The book has been divided into several sections. In the first part the problem is tackled in a general way whit a classification, legislation and European viewpoint. Finally it take into account the impact on human health that may result from their misuse.