Numerous studies of recent decades have convincingly shown that food contains natural components not only possessing nutritional value for the organism, but also regulating its multiple functions. The problems of rational and so-called optimal nutrition, which provides individual adjustment of diet that best meets the needs of people in energy, macronutrient and regulatory components, become the subject of discussion with increasing frequency. At the same time, biologically active substances contained in food, with systematic consumption, are able to maintain and regulate certain physiological functions of the body, biochemical and behavioral responses, which can contribute to the preservation of human health, the resistance to diseases.

It is well-known fact that the quality of food products is gradually deteriorating during the storage due to physical, chemical and biochemical transformations. In this regard, methods to simulate changes in the quality of food products during storage in order to predict their shelf life are widely used in food technology.

The quality of products is determined by a set of indicators that determine the ability to meet specifi c needs of consumers. Various methods of analysis are used to assess the consumer appeal of products, among which organoleptic or sensory evaluation, based on the perception of quality by the human senses, is of great importance.

The article contains information on the biology, morphology and ecology of the sperm whale. According to the original data, it is found that the interdental space of the lower jaw is approximately from 1/3 to 7/5 of the width of the sperm whale teeth. The review of data on the products of sperm whale is given.

Sugar is a high-purity food product, with possibility of long-term storage. The requirements for its quality have always been high, as it is not only used for food without additional processing, but is also a raw material for other branches of food industry.

The quality of food products entering the Russian market and sold there is estimated by generally accepted and well-known methods: organoleptic, physicochemical and microbiological. When assessing food production, its «quality» is defined as the degree of conformity of the characteristics inherent in a given product to regulatory requirements. Thus, each conducted research on the evaluation of product quality allows to identify only its compliance with the requirements of regulatory documentation.

The Russian market of polymer packaging for greens has been analyzed. The eff ect from polymer packaging on the quality and safety of fresh herbs has been studied. Organoleptic, microbiological and physical and chemical indices of 7 green samples were determined on the example of 3 biological families.

Walnuts have a high nutritional value due to their high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are prone to rapid oxidation. Oxidation products worsen the organoleptic quality of the product and have a toxic and mutagenic eff ect on the human body. Therefore, an important task is to control the degree of oxidation damage in walnuts during storage.

In conditions of an active rhythm of life consumers of food products are increasingly in need of minimal time for food intake and cooking. The catering industry creates «bistro» or «express» type enterprises for this purpose, as well as introduces new types of services, such as catering, which includes not only on-site catering, but also delivery of meals to offi ces and to the house. The packaging of perishable food and readyto-serve foods plays an important role when transporting and storing them.

The article considers the issues of the formation of commercial education in pre-revolutionary Russia in the period from 1771 to 1917. It is shown that there were several types of commercial educational institutions in the pre-revolutionary period in Russia: trade classes, trade schools, commercial knowledge courses, commercial colleges, commercial institutes. The main feature of the commercial education of this period was its fl exibility: curricula, programs and methods of teaching were not rigidly set and were determined by the wide freedom of choice of subjects, methods of teaching and organization of the educational process.