Comments on: Is a nitrogen flush from natural gas acceptable for preserving health food? http://www.health--is--fun.com/healthy-living/is-a-nitrogen-flush-from-natural-gas-acceptable-for-preserving-health-food/174/ Some Ideas To Help Stay Fit Sat, 19 May 2012 11:06:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: microbioguy74 http://www.health--is--fun.com/healthy-living/is-a-nitrogen-flush-from-natural-gas-acceptable-for-preserving-health-food/174/#comment-274 microbioguy74 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:16:12 +0000 http://www.health--is--fun.com/healthy-living/is-a-nitrogen-flush-from-natural-gas-acceptable-for-preserving-health-food/174/#comment-274 Water content is one thing you could look at. If the water availability is low enough it will discourage bacterial growth. This is the same reason that a popular natural way of preserving food is drying. Another thought would be looking at individual components of the bar. If it contains a fruit then there will be natural yeast. Raisins would be ok because they are dried but if you use for example a strawberry you would either have to dry it, or you could make a paste by smashing up the berries, heating the mash to pasteurize it, then add the paste back to the product as a fruit layer. Nuts such as almonds, peanuts, etc. could be roasted before going into the bar. Honey is naturally bacteriostatic and can act as a binding agent for your ingredients as well as a natural preservative. I hope this helps give some ideas. Water content is one thing you could look at. If the water availability is low enough it will discourage bacterial growth. This is the same reason that a popular natural way of preserving food is drying.

Another thought would be looking at individual components of the bar. If it contains a fruit then there will be natural yeast. Raisins would be ok because they are dried but if you use for example a strawberry you would either have to dry it, or you could make a paste by smashing up the berries, heating the mash to pasteurize it, then add the paste back to the product as a fruit layer.

Nuts such as almonds, peanuts, etc. could be roasted before going into the bar. Honey is naturally bacteriostatic and can act as a binding agent for your ingredients as well as a natural preservative.

I hope this helps give some ideas.

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