Food processing

Food Processing

Food processing (/fuːd ˈprɒsɛsɪŋ/) is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms.

Etymology

The term "food processing" is derived from the words "food" and "processing". "Food" comes from the Old English fōda, and "processing" comes from the Latin processus, meaning "advancement" or "progress".

Definition

Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industrial methods used to make convenience foods.

Primary Food Processing

Primary food processing is necessary to make most foods edible, and so is a beneficial process. Primary food processing turns agricultural products, such as raw wheat kernels or livestock, into something that can eventually be eaten. This category includes ingredients that are produced by ancient processes such as drying, threshing, winnowing and milling grain, shelling nuts, and butchering animals for meat.

Secondary Food Processing

Secondary food processing is the everyday process of creating food from ingredients that are ready to eat. Baking bread, regardless of whether it is made at home, in a small bakery, or in a large factory, is an example of secondary food processing. Fermenting fish and making wine, beer, and other alcoholic products are traditional forms of secondary food processing.

Tertiary Food Processing

Tertiary food processing has been criticized for promoting overnutrition and obesity, containing too much sugar and salt, too little fiber, and otherwise being unhealthful in respect to dietary needs of humans and farm animals.

Related Terms

• Agriculture
• Cooking
• Food preservation
• Food safety
• Food science
• Nutrition

External links

• Medical encyclopedia article on Food processing
• Wikipedia's article - Food processing

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