There are many factors responsible for poor quality food the major factors responsible for significant quality changes are Wrong temperature and timing, Poor Packaging, inadequate machine maintenance program, wrong precooking, cooking , post cooking approaches and methods, Poor ware washing, poor sanitation, Presence of Pesticides, incompatible water conditions, Presence of Vermin, incorrect formulations, stemming from wrong weight of the food, or it’s elements or components, Spoilage due to chemical, bio chemical, microbiological or physical factors. 

Molecular Nutrition & Food Research devoted to health, safety and all aspects of molecular nutrition such as nutritional biochemistry, nutrigenomics and metabolomics aiming to link the information arising from related disciplines: Bioactivity - Nutritional and medical effects of food constituents including bioavailability and kinetics. Immunology - Understanding the interactions of food and the immune system. Microbiology - Food spoilage, food pathogens, chemical and physical approaches of fermented foods and novel microbial processes. Chemistry - Isolation and analysis of bioactive food ingredients while considering environmental aspects. Molecular nutrition and Food research investigates the correlation between nutrition and health focuses on safety aspects of food constituents reveals food functionality at the molecular level.

Food preservation involves preventing the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi (such as yeasts), or other microorganisms as well as retarding the oxidation of fats that cause rancidity. Food preservation may also include processes that inhibit visual deterioration, such as the enzymatic browning reaction in apples after they are cut during food preparation. The Nutrition Division's interest was mainly, in their nutritional implications, in particular in reducing wastage of food, in preventing losses in nutritive value and in conserving or enhancing palatability.   Nutrition services include National nutrition services, the promotion of supplementary, feeding programs, the development of education in nutrition, and the training of personnel.

 The main objectives of new techniques are to retain the nutrients, sensory properties and to increase the shelf life without any adverse effect on its quality.  Although thermal preservation provides safer food, there exists loss of food properties like nutrients and sensory attributes.  The main objective of preservation is to increase the shelf life by reducing the microbial load and also the water activity. Processing technique used for the particular products should be optimized. The selection of particular preservation method for the particular food product is based on the following criteria like cost of production, scale of production, type of product either milk, meat, poultry, fruits or vegetables, shelf life and end product usage either ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook product. The non thermal techniques are recently used for all the food products for shelf life extension.

Food processing is the conversion of raw ingredients, by physical or chemical means into food, or of food into other forms. Food processing combines raw food ingredients to produce marketable food products that can be easily prepared and served by the consumer. Emerging technologies which have already found in the food industry or related sector are High pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric fields (PEFs), ultrasound (US), and cold plasma (CP). The basic principles of these technologies as well as the state of the art concerning their impact on biological cells, enzymes, and food constituents. Current and potential applications will be discussed, focusing on process-structure-function relationships, as well as recent advances in the process development.

We are getting to see some exiting new developments in the field of food quality and safety improvements like Refinement in Microwave assisted processing such as thermal processing and freeze drying, application of high pressure processing development of membranes for RO, ultrafiltration, microfiltration etc., , developments in aseptic processing of particulates, ultrasonic processing, modeling digestion, developments in new films and performance packing materials.

A food safety program is a written document indicating how a food business will control the food safety hazards associated with the food handling activities of the business. Only certain high risk food businesses are required to have food safety programs

Quality control is an essential component of any food processing business. Food quality is the quality characteristics of food that is acceptable to consumers. This includes external factors as appearance (size, shape, color, gloss, and consistency), texture, and flavor factors such as federal grade standards (e.g. of eggs) and internal (chemical, physical, microbial).

Food Microbiology focuses on a wide variety of current research on microbes that have both beneficial and deleterious effects on the safety and quality of foods, and are thus a concern of public health.

Fresh fruits and vegetables have a relatively short life. These are consists of cheap source of fibre, several vitamins and minerals.  Generally they have highest nutrition value, if we eat freshly. They are to be stored for an extended period before they begin to decay.  It is necessary to process them by one or more of the various methods that are available. The extent to which preservation is required depends in part on the type of plant material that is being considered. The extent to which nutrients are lost during processing varies according to both the type of fruit or vegetable and the process that is used.