

Water Activity Explained: The Science Behind Food Safety and Shelf Stability
A food can look dry, taste salty, or feel firm and still present a food safety risk. Think about a dry-cured salami hanging in an aging room, fruit slowly drying after harvest, or a traditional preserve made with sugar. Each relies, in part, on controlling the availability of water. Yet appearance, texture, and even the amount of salt or sugar added cannot tell us whether a food will support microbial growth. For generations, people have preserved foods through drying, saltin


















