Testing & Adjusting pH Levels

These Virtual Labs help students learn basic laboratory techniques and practice methods used by lab technicians and researchers in a variety of careers, using specific food science lab processes.
The process of preventing Clostridium botulinum growth in salsa.

Adding acidic ingredients is an important way to protect foods from dangerous toxins produced by organisms like C. botulinum, a microbe that is common and harmless in the environment but deadly when sealed with food in a jar. In the lab, testing the pH of a substance (how acidic or basic it is) provides important information for ensuring food safety. This module introduces users to proper sampling techniques when testing pH and explains how adjusting a food’s acidity can keep it safe from C. bot.

Virtual Labs: Acidifying Salsa familiarizes the user with food science lab equipment and teaches standard techniques for sampling. The interactive covers theory and practice of adjusting pH, so learners will have familiarity with concepts and procedures when encountered in a real lab.
---
This work was supported by USDA CSREES and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture under two Higher Education Challenge Grant projects: 2008-38411-19055 and 2011-38411-30625. © 2008-2014 NMSU Board of Regents. Collaborating universities South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University and New Mexico State University are all equal opportunity/affirmative action employers and educators.

NMSU does not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, retaliation, serious medical condition, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, spousal affiliation or protected veteran status in its programs and activities as required by equal opportunity/affirmative action regulations and laws and university policy and rules.