1

Fundamentals
of
Water Activity
DECAGON
Improving the food supply.
FDA & USDA Compliance.
Pure, safe, and wholesome food.
T
he U.S. food, drug, and cosmetics
laws are intended to assure the
consumer that foods are pure and
wholesome, safe to eat, and produced
under sanitary conditions; that drugs
and medical devices are safe and
effective for their intended uses; that
cosmetics are safe and made from
appropriate ingredients; and that all
labeling and packaging is truthful,
informative, and not deceptive.
I Water activity is a critical
measurement in determining the
shelf-life and safety of foods and other
substances.
M
odern scientific methods are
required to enforce the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Laws to ensure the wholesomeness of
foods and the safety and efficacy of
drugs would be impractical without
reliable methods of laboratory
analysis to determine whether
products are up to standard. Food and
drug scientists in both government
and industry must know the normal
composition of products to distinguish
them from those that are defective.
They investigate the toxicity of
ingredients, study the causes of food
poisoning, and test the potency of
vitamins and thousands of drugs.
Their investigations also cover the
adequacy of controls over processing,
packaging, and storage practices. Any
action taken by the FDA must be
based on scientific facts which can be
supported in court. The principal
authority relied on for laboratory
methods is:
OFFICIAL METHODS OF
ANALYSIS OF THE
ASSOCIATION OF OFFICIAL
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS.
This 1,094-page book of tested
methods, published since 1895, is an
internationally recognized guide to
analytical procedures for law
enforcement.
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2
Microbial Group Example Microbial Group Example Microbial Group Example Microbial Group Example Microbial Group Example a a a a a
w ww ww
Products Affected Products Affected Products Affected Products Affected Products Affected
Normal bacteria
Normal yeast
Normal molds
Halophilic bacteria
Xerophilic molds
Osmophllic yeast
0.91
0.88
0.80
0.75
0.65
0.60
Fresh meat, milk
Fruit juice concentrate
Jams, Jellies
Honey
Flour
Dried fruits
Sa1monella species
Clostridium botulinum
Torulopsis species
Aspergillus flavus
Wallemia sebi
Aspergillus echinulatas
Saccharomyces bisporus
Table 1.
I When a substance is
added to lower water
activity, the result can be
complicated.
Ideally, an inert material
could be added which
would decrease water
activity without any
other effects such as
increased ionic strength
and decreased
surface tension.
For instance, salt can be
added to one reaction
mixture and sugar to
another.
The amounts can be
controlled so that the
resulting compounds
have identical
water activity.
Common spoilage organisms and their a
w
limits for growth.
3
Water activity basics for safety and quality
in food products.
W
ATER ACTIVITYS
USEFULNESS as a food
quality and safety
measurement was suggested when it
became evident water content could
not adequately account for microbial
growth fluctuations. The water
activity (a
w
)

concept has served the
microbiologist and food technologist
for decades and is the most commonly
used criterion for safety and quality.
Its usefulness cannot be denied.
Biological cells and tissues are not
homogeneous solutions; neither are
food products. Food products derive
most of their perceived consumer
benefits (apart from nutritional value)
from their physical and chemical
differences. Water is not uniformly
distributed, nor can it be disregarded
exclusively as solvent.
Protecting against food spoilage.
Since yeast, molds and bacteria
require a certain amount of available
water to support growth, designing a
product with an a
w
below 0.6 provides
an effective control. Water activity is
defined as the equilibrium relative
humidity (ERH) divided by 100. Some
common spoilage organisms and their
a
w
limits are listed in Table 1. The
simplest way to reduce water activity
is with a process which drives off
water cooking, baking or
dehydration. The high-heat processes
also use the lethal properties of heat,
while dehydration or freeze drying
only work by lowering the a
w
to a
level that curbs growth.
Binding free water
and food design.
The second method involves tying
up the free water by the addition of
solutes, usually sugars or sodium
chloride. This creates an imbalance in
osmotic pressure which draws the
water from cells. Food designers face
new challenges in maintaining
sufficiently low a
w
with many of
todays fat replacers. Fat, which does
not contribute to the free water, is
replaced by water or a gel to provide
lubricity. These gels do not reduce a
w
and additional control methods are
necessary to prevent spoilage.
Water activity concepts
over 40 years old.
Until recently, water activity as a
physiochemical parameter was mainly
discussed in two scientific disciplines:
physical chemistry and food
microbiology. In the former, it
measures the thermodynamic free
energy of water and in the latter it is
used to define the lower limits of
growth of food spoiling
microorganisms. Microbiologists turned
to water activity measurements upon
discovering that microbial spoilage of
food occurs at widely varying levels of
water content. Scott

, in the 1950s,
applied the water activity concept to
describe the water availability for
microbial growth.
T
he definition of water
activity.
Scott defined water activity (aw) as
the ratio of the water vapor pressure
over a food (P) to that over pure
water (P0).
aw = P/P0
Thus, multiplication of the water
activity by 100 gives the relative
humidity of the atmosphere in
equilibrium with the food.
R.H. (%) = 100 x aw
Water activity is a better index
for microbial growth than water
content.
Water activity better predicts the
growth of microorganisms because
microorganisms can only use
available water, which differs
considerably depending on the solute.
On average, ions bind the most water,
whereas polymers bind the least
water; sugars and peptides fall into an
intermediate position. At the same
molecular concentration, salt lowers
the water activity more than sugar.
When a substance is added to lower
water activity, the result can be
complicated. Ideally, an inert material
could be added which would decrease
water activity without any other
effects such as increased ionic strength
and decreased surface tension. In
reality, the choice of substance can
have a profound effect. For instance,
salt could be added to one reaction
mixture and sugar to another. The
amounts can be controlled so that the
resulting compounds have identical
water activity. But the results of the
reaction will differ because of the
differing influences of salt and sugar
on biological reactions. Salt and sugar
form different additional hurdles
(see page 4).
Water activity and hurdle
technology.
Water activity should be regarded as
an external parameter like pH or
temperature. Under certain conditions,
it will act synergistically with other
environmental parameters. Under
other conditions it will be the sole
parameter determining the outcome of
a certain process. I
This is a compilation of thought from
several authors. We hope it helps you
achieve your product shelf-life goals.
DECAGON
References:
Board, R.G. 1992. Ecosystems: microbes:
food ecological concepts in food
microbiology, The Society for Applied
Bacteriology: Symposium series #21,
pgs. 29S & 140S, Blackwell Scientific
Publications, Boston.
Beuchat, L.R. 1981. Microbial stability as
affected by water activity, Cereal Foods
World, vol. 26(7), pgs 345349.
Hagerdahl-Hahn, Barbel. 1986. Water
activity: a possible external regulator in
biotechnical processes. Enzyme Microb.
Technol., vol. 8, June 322323.
Kuntz, Lynn A. 1992. Keeping
microorganisms in control, Food Product
Design, Aug ' 92, pg. 4451.
Montville, Thomas J. 1987. Food
microbiology: concepts in physiology
and metabolism, pgs 211, CRC Press,
Boca Raton, FL.

Scott, W.J. 1957. Water relations

of food spoilage
microorganisms. Adv. Food
Res., vol.7, pgs 83127.
4
Hurdle technology improves food preservation.
S
EVERAL YEARS AGO, HURDLE
TECHNOLOGY* was developed as a
new concept for the realization of
safe, stable, nutritious, tasty, and
economical foods. It employs the
intelligent combination of different
preservation factors or techniques to
achieve multi-target, mild but reliable
preservation effects.
Mild processing of foods with
hurdle technology.
Many promising hurdles have been
identified so far, although application
of the idea in the food industry has
been largely restricted to the meat
sector. Recent studies, however,
emphasize a much wider potential
application, e.g., in bakery products,
fish, and dairy products. More
specifically, the concept was
introduced into mild processing of
fruits and vegetables. The design of
new hurdles such as gas packaging,
bioconservation, bacterocins, ultra-
high pressure treatment, and edible
coatings aided this development.
Consumers want fresher food
products.
Consumers demand fresher and
more natural products. This prompts
food manufacturers to use milder
preservation techniques and could be
stimulating the current trend to
hurdle technology. There is an urgent
need for new or improved methods
producing stable and safe foods. The
concept of hurdle technology
addresses this need.
P
reservation factors are
hurdles to inhibit
microorganisms.
Hurdle technology deliberately
combines existing and new
preservation techniques to establish a
series of preservative factors (hurdles)
that the microorganisms in question
are unable to overcome (jump over).
These hurdles may be temperature,
water activity, acidity, redox potential,
preservatives, and others. A crucial
phenomenon in hurdle technology is
known as the homeostasis of
microorganisms.
Hurdles disturb homeostasis.
Homeostasis is the constant
tendency of microorganisms to
maintain a stable and balanced
(uniform) internal environment.
Preservative factors functioning as
hurdles can disturb one or more of the
homeostasis mechanisms, thereby
preventing microorganisms from
multiplying and causing them to
remain inactive or even die. Food
preservation is achieved by disturbing
the homeostasis of microorganisms.
The best way to do this is to
deliberately disturb several
homeostasis mechanisms
simultaneously.
*
Hurdle Technology also called:
combined processes, combined methods,
combination preservation, combination
techniques, or barrier technology.
I Apart from the most important and commonly used hurdles such as temperature, pH,
and water activity, there are many others of potential value.
5
Multiple hurdles affect product
quality least.
This multi-targeted approach is the
essence of hurdle technology. It is
more effective than single targeting
and allows hurdles of lower intensity,
improving product quality. There is the
further possibility that different
hurdles in a food not only have an
added effect on stability, but can act
synergistically.
S
helf-life of fermented sausage:
an example.
Using hurdle technology, salami-
type fermented sausages are produced
that are stable at ambient temperature
for extended periods. A sequence of
hurdles is important at different
stages of the ripening process. The
first hurdles used are the
preservatives, salt and nitrite, which
inhibit many of the bacteria present
in the batter. Other bacteria multiply,
use up oxygen and thereby cause a
drop in redox potential, which inhibits
aerobic organisms and favors the
selection of lactic-acid bacteria. These
bacteria then proliferate, causing
product acidification and an increase
of the pH hurdle. During the long
ripening process of salami, the initial
hurdles gradually become weaker:
nitrite is depleted, the number of
lactic-acid bacteria decreases, redox
potential and pH increase. However,
since water activity decreases with
time it becomes the main hurdle.
An increasing list of hurdles.
About 50 different hurdles have
been identified in food preservation.
Apart from the most important and
commonly used hurdles such as
temperature, pH, and water activity,
there are many others of potential
value. Other hurdles include: ultrahigh
pressure, mano-thermo-sonication,
photodynamic inactivation, modified
atmosphere packaging of both non-
respiring and respiring products, edible
coatings, ethanol, maillard reaction
products and bacteriocins. Examples of
foods preserved by combined processes
are fruit juices and heat-processed,
cured meat products. I
I Since yeast, molds and bacteria
require a certain amount of available
water to support growth, designing a
product with an aw below 0.6 provides
an effective control against any
microbial growth.
Excerpted from Food TechnologyDec 1994, pg. 28.
I Annual Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), Title 21
subpart references to water
activity.
In the definitions, 110.3(n), it says:
Safe-moisture level is a level of
moisture low enough to prevent the
growth of undesirable microorganisms in
the finished product under the intended
conditions of manufacturing, storage,
and distribution.
The maximum safe moisture level for a
food is based on its water activity (aw).
An aw will be considered safe for a food
if adequate data are available that
demonstrate that the food at or below
the given aw will not support the growth
of undesirable microorganisms.
6
Measurement of water activity for product quality.
Advantages chilled-mirror dewpoint sensors.
T
HE IMPORTANCE OF THE
CONCEPT OF WATER
ACTIVITY cannot be
overemphasized. Water activity is a
measure of the energy status of the
water in a system. More
importantly, the usefulness of
water activity in relation to
microbial growth, chemical
reactivity, and stability over water
content has been shown. (see
Figure 1)
Microbial Growth
Water Activity is a critical factor
that determines the shelf life of
products. Water activity, not water
content, determines the lower limit
of available water for microbial
growth. While temperature, pH, and
several other factors can influence
whether an organism will grow in
a product and the rate at which it
will grow, water activity is often
the most important factor. The
lowest aw at which the vast
majority of spoilage bacteria will
grow is about 0.90. The aw for
molds and yeast growth is about
0.61 with the lower limit for
growth of mycotoxigenic molds at
0.78 aw.
Chemical/biochemical reactivity.
Water activity influences not only
microbial spoilage but also
chemical and enzymatic reactivity.
Water may influence chemical
reactivity in different ways. It may
act as a solvent, reactant or change
the mobility of the reactants by
affecting the viscosity of the
system. Water activity influences
non-enzymatic browning, lipid
oxidation, degradation of vitamins,
enzymatic reactions, protein
denaturation, starch gelatinization,
and starch retrogradation (see
Figure 1).
Physical Properties
In addition to predicting the rates
of various chemical and
enzymatic reactions, water
activity affects the
textural properties of
foods. Foods with high aw
have a texture that is
described as moist, juicy,
tender and chewy. When
the water activity of these
products is lowered,
undesirable textural
attributes such as
hardness, dryness,
staleness, and toughness
are observed. Low aw
foods normally have
texture attributes
described as crisp and crunchy,
while at higher aw the texture
changes to soggy. Also, water
activity affects the flow, caking
and clumping properties of
powders and granules.
Controlling moisture migration.
Water activity is an important
parameter in controlling water
migration of multicomponent
products. Some foods contain
components at different water
activity levels, such as cream filled
snack cakes or cereals with dried
fruits. Undesirable textural changes
are often the result of moisture
migration in multicomponent
foods. Moisture will migrate from
the region of high aw to the region
of lower aw, but the rate of
migration depends on many
factors. For example, moisture
migrating from the higher aw
dried fruit into the lower aw cereal
causes the fruit to become hard
and dry while the cereal becomes
soggy.
F
ree water vs. bound water.
Water activity instruments
measure the energy status
(sometimes referred to as free,
unbound or active water) of the
water present in a sample. A
portion of the total water
content present in sample is
strongly bound to specific sites on
the components in the sample.
These sites may include the
hydroxl groups of polysaccharides,
the carbonyl and amino groups of
proteins, and other polar sites.
Water is held by hydrogen, ion-
dipole, and other strong chemical
bonds. Additionally, some water is
less tightly bound, but is still not
available (as in a solvent for
water-soluble components). Many
preservation processes attempt to
eliminate spoilage by lowering the
Fig 1 Water Activity Diagramdescribing the
affects on microbial growth and reaction rates
7
availability of water to
microorganisms. Reducing the aw
also minimizes other undesirable
chemical changes occurring during
storage. The processes used to
reduce the aw include techniques
like concentration, dehydration,
humecants, freezing, and freeze
drying. These techniques control
spoilage by making water
unavailable to microorganisms.
Because water is present in varying
energy states, analytical methods
that attempt to measure total
moisture in samples dont always
agree. Water activity tells the real
story.
Chilled mirror dewpoint theory.
In a chilled mirror dewpoint
system, water activity is measured
by equilibrating the liquid phase
water in the sample with the
vapor phase water in the
headspace of a closed chamber and
measuring the relative humidity of
the headspace. In the AquaLab, a
sample is placed in a sample cup
which is sealed against a sensor
block. Inside the sensor block is a
fan, a dewpoint sensor, a
temperature sensor, and an
infrared thermometer. The
dewpoint sensor measures the
dewpoint temperature of the air,
and the infrared thermometer
measures the sample temperature.
From these measurements the
relative humidity of the headspace
is computed as the ratio of
dewpoint temperature saturation
vapor pressure to saturation vapor
pressure at the sample
temperature. When the water
activity of the sample and the
relative humidity of the air are in
equilibrium, the measurement of
the headspace humidity gives the
water activity of the sample. The
purpose of the fan is to speed
equilibrium and to control the
boundary layer conductance of the
dew point sensor.
Speed and accuracy
The major advantages of the
chilled mirror dewpoint method,
which is a primary method
approved by AOAC International,
are speed and accuracy. Chilled
mirror dewpoint is a primary
approach to measurement of
relative humidity based on
fundamental thermodynamic
principles. Since the measurement
is based on temperature
determination, chilled mirror
instruments make accurate
(0.003aw) measurements in less
than 5 minutes. For some
applications, fast readings allow
manufacturers to perform at-line
monitoring of a products water
activity. Processing changes can
then be made during production.
With AquaLabs chilled mirror
technology, temperature control is
unnecessary for most applications,
but available if required.
W
ater activityaccepted and
approved.
Water activity is an important
property. It predicts stability with
respect to microbial growth, rates
of deteriorative reaction, and
physical properties. The growing
recognition of measuring water
activity is illustrated by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administrations
incorporation of the water activity
principle in defining safety
regulations. The purpose of the
regulations are to detail the
specific requirements and practices
to be followed by industry to
assure that products produced
under sanitary conditions and are
Reference: Fontana, Anthony 1998. Water activity: why it is important for food safety.
Proceedings of the First NSF International Conference on Food Safety. pgs.177-185.
I AquaLab water activity meter.
pure, wholesome, and safe. In the
past, measuring water activity was
a frustrating experience. New
instrument technologies, like
AquaLab, have vastly improved
speed, accuracy, and reliability of
measurements. I
8
DECAGON
Post Office 835
Pullman, Washington 99163
509-332-2756
fax 509-332-5158
[email protected]
www.decagon.com/aqualab/
Are you in compliance with HACCP?
Identifying your products critical control points.
I What does HACCP mean?
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and
Critical Control Points. It is a way for
industry to control and prevent problems,
and ensure safe food by controlling the
production process from beginning to
end, rather than detecting problems at
the end of the line. HACCP identifies
where hazards might occur in the food
production process, and puts into place
actions to prevent the hazards from
occurring. By controlling major food
risks, such as microbiological, chemical,
and physical contaminants, the industry
can better assure consumers that its
products are safe.
A
S OF JANUARY 26, 1998 HACCP IS NOW
LAW FOR meat, poultry and
seafood processors in the US.
This science-based system will
improve food safety and reduce the
incidence of foodborne illness
attributed to meat and poultry
products. The old food inspection
program was based on a see, smell
and touch approach that relied more
on detection of potential hazards than
prevention. Today, microbiological and
chemical contamination are of greater
importance to food safety.
W
hat are critical control
points (CCPs)?
A CCP is defined as any point or
procedure in a specific food system
where loss of control could result in
an unacceptable health risk. Each CCP
will have one or more control
measures to assure that the identified
hazards are prevented, eliminated or
reduced to acceptable levels. For
microbiological hazards, for example, a
target water activity must be
established to prevent hazardous
organisms from growing.
W
hat are critical limits?
A critical limit is a maximum
and/or minimum value to which a
biological, chemical or physical
parameter must be controlled at a CCP
to prevent, eliminate or reduce to an
acceptable level the occurrence of a
food safety hazard. Critical limits may
be based on factors such as:
temperature, time, water activity, or
pH. A critical limit is used to
distinguish between safe and unsafe
operating conditions at a CCP. Critical
limits should not be confused with
operational limits, which are
established for reasons other than
food safety. I
H
ow does
HACCP
work?
There are seven
principles that
serve as the
foundation for a
HACCP system.
1
Conduct a
hazard
analysis to identify
potential hazards
that could occur in
the food
production process.
2
Identify the
critical
control points
(CCPs, see next column) - those points in
the process where the potential
hazards could occur and can be
prevented and/or controlled.
3
Establish the critical limits that
must be met at each identified CCP.
A critical limit is a criterion that must
be met for each CCP.
4
Establish CCP monitoring
requirements to ensure each CCP
stays within its limit. Monitoring may
require materials or devices to
measure or otherwise evaluate the
process at CCPs.
5
Establish corrective action to be
taken when there is a deviation
identified by monitoring of a CCP. In
case a problem occurs, corrective
actions must be in place to ensure no
public health hazard occurs.
6
Establish effective record keeping
procedures that document the
HACCP system is working properly.
Records should document CCP
monitoring, verification activities and
deviation records.
7
Establish procedures for verifying
that the HACCP system is working
properly. Verification consists of
methods, procedures and tests used to
determine that the HACCP system is in
compliance with the HACCP plan.
Water Activity Meters
Work
World Water
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www.decagon.com/aqualab/