Sugar and salt are used as antimicrobial agents in foods because they capture a food's ________ and make it unavailable to microbes.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Sugar and salt are both hygroscopic, which means they have the ability to bind to and retain water molecules. This reduces the water availability that microbes need to survive and reproduce, making the food inhospitable to them. Sugar and salt do not interact with fats, proteins, or vitamins to the same degree as they do with water, so B (water) is the correct choice.

Sugar and Salt Are Used as Antimicrobial Agents in Foods