Estimating the initial freezing point of foods from composition data

The initial freezing point of food was estimated from the mole fractions of individual solutes in the aqueous phase (ions, sugars, acids and alcohol), derivable from information given in nutritional tables. Predicted values were compared with experimental measurements taken from the literature. Predicted and experimental values generally agreed to within 1 degrees C, despite the solute concentrations of the measured foods being assumed to be those of the average compositions given in nutritional tables. The effects of the addition of salt to meat and of dehydration of various foods on freezing point depression, and the effect of temperature on the ice content of frozen foods were also successfully predicted.