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Chapter 12 Waste Product Handling
The food industry produces waste materi-
als as a by-product of food processing and
preparation. Many food processors consume
large quantities of water, but food manufac-
turing sectors vary in their major purposes
for using water. For example, 60% of the
water used by meat processors is for cooling,
62% of the water consumed by sauce manu-
factures is for cleaning; while starch millers
use 55% of their water for granule separation
(Wang et al., 2003). Water serves several
functions in food processing including clean-
ing, conveying, steam generation, heat
exchange, and as an ingredient. Thus, the
industry should accept the challenge of han-
dling residues and wastes as part of the pro-
duction process and apply techniques to
improve productivity, quality, and efficiency.
Waste materials generated from food pro-
cessing and foodservice facilities can present
difficulties because they contain large
amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and
mineral salts. For example, the wastes from
dairy plants; food freezing, and dehydration
plants; and processing plants for red meats,
poultry, and seafood can produce distinct
odors and heavy pollution of water if the dis-
charge is not properly treated. Organic matter
from waste materials should be treated through
biological stabilization processes before it is
discharged into a body of water. Improper
waste disposal is a hazard to humans and to
aquatic forms of life. This treatment incorpo-
rates biological processes to treat the effluent
to meet EPA discharge limits and is critical to
the treatment plant’s operation.
Increasingly, federal, state, and local regu-
latory agencies, as well as the public, are
demanding improved waste treatment by the
industry. Processors and regulatory agencies
are responsible for the disposal of waste
materials promptly and completely. Accu-
mulation of wastes, even for short periods of
time, can attract insects and rodents, pro-
duce odors, and become a public nuisance or
an unsightly condition inside or outside the
plant. The integration among controlled
production processes, with low level of
losses, and the treatment system and han-
dling of residues (solids, liquids, and gases) is
fundamental to administration of waste
product handling with an acceptable cost.
The major problem with these wastes is
that the organic matter provides a food
source for microbial growth. With an abun-
dant food supply, microorganisms multiply
rapidly, reducing the dissolved oxygen con-
tained in the water. Water normally contains
approximately 8 parts per million (ppm) of
dissolved oxygen. A minimum standard for
fish life is 5 ppm of dissolved oxygen. If val-
ues are below this level, fish can suffocate.