Canning in the context of "National Food Processors Association"

Food spoilage is the process whereby food becomes unsuitable to ingest by a person; it is a matter of food safety. Bacteria and various fungi are the causes of spoilage, and can create serious consequences for consumers, but there are preventive measures that can be taken. The precise cause of the process is due to many outside factors as a side-effect of the type of product it is, as well as how the product is packaged and stored.

Food spoilage is the reason for food preservation, to extend shelf life. Meat is processed, food is frozen, and food is canned. Due to spoilage, one-third of the world's food produced for human consumption is lost every year.

Sweet corn (Zea mays convar. saccharata var. rugosa), also called sweetcorn, sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize grown for human consumption with a relatively high sugar content.

Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring recessive mutation in the genes which control conversion of sugar to starch inside the endosperm of the corn kernel. Sweet corn is picked when still immature (the milk stage) and prepared and eaten as a vegetable, unlike field corn, which is harvested when the kernels are dry and mature (dent stage). Since the process of maturation involves converting sugar to starch, sweet corn stores poorly and must be eaten fresh, canned, or frozen, before the kernels become tough and starchy.

Processed meat is considered to be any meat that has been modified in order to either improve its taste or to extend its shelf life. Methods of meat processing include salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, and the addition of chemical preservatives. Processed meat is frequently made from pork or beef, but also poultry and others. It can contain meat by-products such as blood. Processed meat products include bacon, ham, sausages, salami, corned beef, jerky, hot dogs, lunch meat, canned meat, chicken nuggets, and meat-based sauces. Meat processing includes all the processes that change fresh meat, with the exception of simple mechanical processes such as cutting, grinding or mixing.

Meat processing began as soon as people realized that cooking and salting helps to preserve fresh meat. It is not known when this took place; however, the process of salting and sun-drying was recorded in Ancient Egypt, while using ice and snow is credited to early Romans, and canning was developed by Nicolas Appert who in 1810 received a prize for his invention from the French government. Medical health organizations advise people to limit processed meat consumption as it increases risk of some forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Blanching is a process in which a food, usually a vegetable or fruit, is partially cooked by first scalding in boiling water, then removing after a brief timed interval, and finally plunging into iced water or placing under cold running water (known as shocking or refreshing) to halt the cooking process. Blanching foods helps reduce quality loss over time. Blanching is often used as a treatment prior to freezing, dehydrating, or canning vegetables or fruits to deactivate enzymes, modify texture, remove the peel and wilt tissue. The inactivation of enzymes preserves colour, flavour, and nutritional value. The process has three stages: preheating, blanching, and cooling. The most common blanching methods for vegetables/fruits are hot water and steam, while cooling is either done using cold water or cool air. Other benefits of blanching include removing pesticide residues and decreasing microbial load. Drawbacks to the blanching process can include leaching of water-soluble and heat-sensitive nutrients and the production of effluent.

Crimping is a method of joining two or more pieces of metal or other ductile material by deforming one or both of them to hold the other. The bend or deformity is called the crimp. Crimping tools are used to create crimps.

Crimping is used extensively in metalworking, including to contain bullets in cartridge cases, for electrical connections, and for securing lids on metal food cans. Because it can be a cold-working technique, crimping can also be used to form a strong bond between the workpiece and a non-metallic component. It is also used to connect two pieces of food dough.

Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, sandwich meats, delicatessens, and deli meats—are precooked or cured meats that are sliced and served cold or hot. They are typically served in sandwiches or on a tray. They can be purchased canned, pre-sliced (usually in vacuum packs), or they can be sliced to order, most often in delicatessens and charcuteries.

Lunch meats are processed meats designed for convenience. The preservatives added to extend the shelf life have been increasingly scrutinized due to potential links to certain diseases. In the US, Listeria infection is possible and has resulted in additional guidelines from the CDC for the elderly.

Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called a pickle, or, if named, the name is prefaced with the word "pickled". Foods that are pickled include vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, meats, fish, dairy and eggs.

Pickling solutions are typically highly acidic, with a pH of 4.6 or lower, and high in salt, preventing enzymes from working and micro-organisms from multiplying. Pickling can preserve perishable foods for months, or in some cases years. Antimicrobial herbs and spices, such as mustard seed, garlic, cinnamon or cloves, are often added. If the food contains sufficient moisture, a pickling brine may be produced simply by adding dry salt. For example, sauerkraut and Korean kimchi are produced by salting the vegetables to draw out excess water. Natural fermentation at room temperature, by lactic acid bacteria, produces the required acidity. Other pickles are made by placing vegetables in vinegar. Unlike the canning process, pickling (which includes fermentation) does not require that the food be completely sterile. The acidity or salinity of the solution, the temperature of fermentation, and the exclusion of oxygen determine which microorganisms dominate, and determine the flavor of the end product.

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed either fresh, cooked or after storage (using preservation techniques like canning, freezing, or dehydration). The taste differs considerably between cooked and raw: the high oxalate content may be reduced by steaming.

It is an annual plant (rarely biennial), growing as tall as 30 cm (1 ft). Spinach may overwinter in temperate regions. The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to triangular, and very variable in size: 2–30 cm (1–12 in) long and 1–15 cm (1⁄2–6 in) broad, with larger leaves at the base of the plant and small leaves higher on the flowering stem. The flowers are inconspicuous, yellow-green, 3–4 mm (1⁄8–5⁄32 in) in diameter, and mature into a small, hard, dry, lumpy fruit cluster 5–10 mm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) across containing several seeds.

Canned coffee (缶コーヒー, kan kōhī) is a pre-brewed version of the beverage, sold ready to drink. It is particularly popular in Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere across Asia, and produced in a number of styles and by a large number of companies. Canned coffee is available in supermarkets and convenience stores, with large numbers of cans also being sold in vending machines that offer heated cans in the autumn and winter, and cold cans in the warm months.