Water Activity and Food Quality

Water activity has become an important criterion for the evaluation and control of food safety and quality, says Theodore P. Labuza, Morse Alumni Distinguished Professor of Food Science and Engineering in the Dept. of Food Science & Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul ([email protected]).

"Water activity’s usefulness as a food quality and safety measurement tool was first suggested during the 1950s when it became obvious water content could not adequately account for microbial g…