One of the most important industries is food, because every day the human body requires fuel - a variety of food products both in natural and processed form. Classification helps to systematize and streamline the terminology of the entire variety of food products.
Food classification: what is it?
In order to be able to efficiently and rationally produce, sell and store food products, it is necessary to first classify them.
Food classification is a logical process of dividing the entire totality of food products into groups of different levels of generality according to certain criteria.
In commodity science there are several classifications of food products, namely: educational, commercial, standard, economic-statistical and foreign economic. The first two are considered the most common.
The value of food classification
The classification of food has many goals, namely:
- help automate the process of collecting and processing product information;
- facilitate the study of consumer properties of food products, the formation of a system of requirements for food products, accounting and planning of their turnover;
- help develop rational packaging methods, organize optimal modes of storage and transportation of food products;
- promote the rational placement of goods on the trading floor and in the warehouse;
- create the basis for certification of food products;
- facilitate the identification of consumer demand for food products.
To collect information about goods and their processing using different types of computer tools. The classification of software products by the field of use includes three main categories: system software, application software packages, and programming tools. It is the application programs that are responsible for processing various information.
In turn, the classification of applied software products is divided into the following types: text editors and processors, graphic editors, database management systems, spreadsheets; accounting systems, office management systems, financial analytical systems and others. All of the above software tools are used in the management of food products.
Classification of food products by purpose
According to the destination, all food products are divided into four categories:
- Food products for mass consumption.
- Dietary and prophylactic products.
- Products intended for the nutrition of children.
- Functional Foods:
- fortified foods;
- physiologically functional food ingredients;
- probiotic foods;
- probiotics;
- prebiotics;
- synbiotics.
Upper Level Classification Features
The classification of foods at the upper levels is carried out according to the most common features.
So, on the basis of origin, all food products are divided into four groups:
- vegetable products (cereals, vegetables, fruits, legumes, mushrooms, etc.);
- animal products (meat, fish, seafood, etc.);
- mineral origin (salt);
- biosynthetic origin (vinegar).
Based on the chemical composition, food products are divided into:
- protein
- carbohydrate;
- fatty;
- mineral.
According to the degree of processing, food products are:
- raw
- semi-finished products;
- ready made.
Of course, this is not a complete classification of staple foods. Each group of food products hierarchically consists of smaller groups (species, varieties, varieties, etc.) depending on raw materials, recipes, production technology and other unifying features.
Classification of food products
The educational classification of food products by groups is used in commodity science to study the consumer properties of goods, the principles of the formation of these properties and their preservation. According to the above mentioned classification, all food products are combined into 9 groups on the basis of common origin, chemical composition, production technology, purpose and storage features:
- grain flour products;
- fruits and vegetables and mushrooms;
- sugar, honey, starch and confectionery;
- edible fats;
- meat products;
- fish products;
- dairy products;
- eggs and egg products;
- taste products.
Educational classifications aim to study the range of products, and the most important sign is the purpose of the food product.
Trade classification of food products by groups
The trade classification of food products into groups helps rationally place goods on the shelves and organize their effective storage. According to this classification, the following product groups are distinguished:
- bakery products ;
- fruits and vegetables;
- dairy and butter products;
- confectionery;
- meat and sausages;
- fish and fish products;
- egg products;
- edible fats;
- soft drinks;
- wine and vodka products;
- tobacco products.
Grocery and gastronomic products
In trade, the classification of food products provides for the conditional combination of all food products into groceries and gastronomy.
Groceries include flour, pasta and cereals, sugar, salt, starch and yeast, tea, coffee, spices and vegetable oils.
The gastronomic group of products includes ready-to-eat products, namely sausages, canned meat and fish and smoked meats, cheeses, butter and other dairy products, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and some seasonings.
Assortment of food products
Food products may form a certain set of goods or assortment. Distinguish between commercial and industrial assortment.
In the first case, the assortment of the enterprise (the nomenclature of goods that are sold in the store) and the assortment of the product group (dairy, meat, confectionery and other goods) are distinguished.
An industrial assortment includes goods that are produced at a given enterprise (enterprise assortment) or in a given industrial sector (industry assortment).
Dairy Product Classification
In ancient times, when the chemical composition of milk was not yet known, this product was often called "white blood" or "juice of life." And not in vain. After all, milk is rightfully considered the most complete food product, due to its content of 20 amino acids, more than 147 fatty acids and lactose (milk sugar), which is a storehouse of vitamins, trace elements, enzymes and other useful substances.
Both milk itself and the products that are obtained from it lend themselves to classification. A special group is made up of dairy products, which are the result of lactic acid or mixed (lactic acid + alcohol) fermentation of milk.
Classification of milk and dairy productsMilk product | Definition |
Milk: | |
| The result of heating milk to a temperature of 74-76 0 C for 15-30 minutes in special equipment |
| The result of heating milk to a temperature above 100 0 C for 2-10 seconds under high pressure |
| The result of keeping pasteurized milk at a temperature of 85-99 0 C for at least 3 hours in closed containers |
| The result of evaporating whole milk with or without crystalline sugar (12%) |
| The result of drying normalized pasteurized milk to a powder |
Cream | The result of the separation of the fat fraction from whole milk |
Butter | The product of separation or whipping cream from cow's milk |
Cheese | The product of coagulation of milk with enzymes and lactic acid bacteria or the melting of various dairy products with melting salts |
Dairy products: | Fermentation product of pasteurized milk with bacterial starter cultures |
| Product of fermented milk fermentation of pasteurized milk with the introduction of pure races of lactic streptococcus, acidophilus and Bulgarian bacillus in different proportions |
| Mixed fermentation product using kefir fungus. It has a pronounced dietary and therapeutic effect due to the accumulation of antibiotic substances |
| Fermentation product of pasteurized cream with ferment from pure cultures of lactic streptococcus |
| Product of fermentation of milk and subsequent removal of whey |
| Fermentation product of pasteurized milk with acidophilic bacillus yeast |
Classification of meat products
Meat products, like dairy products, belong to the category of consumer goods. In meat in large quantities contains all the essential amino acids and in a ratio that most fully meets the needs of the human body. It is for humans the main source of vitamin B12, phosphorus and iron, phospholipids and other nutrients.
Classification of meat productsMeat product | Definition |
Meat of slaughtered farm animals | Beef, pork, horse meat, etc. |
Animal offal | Minor organs of slaughtered livestock (heart, kidneys, liver, tongue, head, etc.) |
Poultry meat | Meat of chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, etc. |
Meat products | Schnitzel, entrecote, goulash, patty, steak, meatball, minced meat, etc., requiring subsequent heat treatment |
Meat culinary products | Ready-to-eat meat products that have gone through various heat treatment methods |
Frozen ready-made meat dishes | Ready-made meat products from natural or minced meat with or without garnish, frozen |
Smoked Meat | Ready-to-eat salted and thermally processed large-sized meat products (ham, bacon, brisket, etc.) |
Sausages | Products from minced sausage with or without casing (sausages, sausages, sausages, pies, zelets, meat breads , etc.) that are cooked or fermented and ready to eat |
Canned meat | Hermetically sealed and sterilized meat products in combination with other food products (vegetables, cereals) or without them |
Classification of Products for Baby Food
Baby food is a food product created from high quality raw materials according to special recipes for children from the first days of life to 14 years. Children's nutrition should meet all the physiological needs of their growing body, in particular, be complete in terms of protein, carbohydrates and fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
The full classification of baby food is very extensive. The most common attribute for classification is the age of the children for which food products are designed. In this regard, distinguish food:
- for young children (from 0 to 3 years old);
- for preschool children (from 3 to 6 years old);
- for school children (from 6 to 14 years old).
According to the water content, children's food products are divided into two groups:
- products with a low water content (4-15%). This includes cereals, pasta, flour, milk powder;
- products with a high water content (60-90%). These are vegetable and fruit purees, cottage cheese, kefir, meatballs.
According to the degree of grinding products, children's food products are intended:
- for children in the first months of life (apply homogenization of nutrients with a particle size of 150-200 microns);
- for children from 6 to 9 months (rubbing with a particle size of up to 800 microns);
- for children from 10 months to 1.5 years (grinding pieces to 2000 microns);
- for children from 1.5 to 3 years (portioned meals).
Canned foods for baby food are:
- from plant materials (juices, mashed potatoes, canned vegetables and fruits and vegetables);
- from meat raw materials (beef, poultry, pork, liver, heart, stomach and tongue).
Dairy products for children
A special place in baby food is occupied by dairy products, since it is it that replaces the mother’s milk, if it is absent, and is used as complementary foods. Depending on the purpose, the classification of dairy products for children looks like this:
- dry adapted formulas for baby food;
- dry milk porridge;
- dairy products.
By type of products, dairy products for children are:
Food storage
All foods tend to deteriorate over time. Extend their shelf life by using canning. For this, it is necessary to create conditions that prevent the development of microorganisms and the activity of enzymes, which cause spoilage of products.
According to the methods of conservation, the classification of storage of products is as follows:
- heat treatment (pasteurization, sterilization, freezing, cooling, application of UHF currents);
- dehydration (freeze-drying, vacuum, solar or chamber drying);
- change in the composition of the medium (salting, pickling, pickling, adding sugar);
- the use of chemicals (the introduction of antibiotics, antiseptics and antioxidants);
- ionization by radiation.
Canning not only increases the shelf life of food products, but also expands their assortment, improves taste and increases calorie content.