Food can spoil very quickly. Which methods are used to minimize the reactions that allow bacteria and fungi to grow?

Preservatives slow or prevent the chemical and biological reactions that help bacteria and fungi grow. Low temperatures also slow these reactions and microbial growth, so preservatives and low temperature are used together to keep food from spoiling quickly. High temperatures can kill microbes during cooking or processing, but they do not preserve food once it cools; catalysts would speed reactions rather than minimize them.

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