Food processing

Food processing turns simple ingredients into the wide variety of foods and drinks we enjoy today.

The process takes raw food, like a tomato, and changes it using different methods of food processing.

In this article you can learn:

• the importance of food processing
• types of food processing
• how grains are processed
• advantages of food processing
• ultra-processed foods and disadvantages of food processing

This resource is suitable for Health and Wellbeing for primary school learners.

In this video, the Great Spoon explains the importance of food processing and different methods of food processing.

There are many different ways food can be processed to make it taste different, safer to eat or last longer.

Here is a list of examples of food processing:

• adding other ingredients
• cooking
• freezing
• blending
• chopping
• packaging

• Many foods cannot be eaten in their raw form, like wheat. (Find out more about human digestion in this science article)
• Wheat comes from a group of cereal grasses that are grown to produce grains.
• Other types of grain include oats, barley, rye and maize.
• Wheat is a very popular grain because it can be ground to make flour, which is the main ingredient in many different foods.
• Grains can be found in a wide variety of foods from bread and pasta to breakfast cereals.
• Some grains are even grown for feeding farm animals whose meat we eat.

Food processing is an important part of modern life and it has many advantages:

• Raw fresh food can be transformed to make them last longer, like sun dried tomatoes.
• Foods can be mixed to make lots of exciting options. For example, maize can be processed to make corn flakes and tortilla chips.
• We have access to an amazing variety of foods from all over the world because they can be preserved and packaged for transport.
• Some processing just makes food safe for us to eat. For example milk is pasteurised to kill off harmful bacteria.
• Some fruit and vegetables can be frozen to preserve vitamins and other nutrients. For example, peas are frozen as soon as they are picked so that we get all the good stuff before they start to age.

Many processed foods, like tinned tomatoes or frozen peas, are good alternatives to fresh food because they last longer so we waste less. However, there are disadvantages to processing food too:

• When food is processed, important nutrients can sometimes be removed. Peeling fruit, vegetables and whole grains can remove fibre. For example, when potatoes are peeled to make chips, a lot of the fibre is lost.
• Some processed foods have ingredients added to them to make them taste better or last longer, like lots of salt or sugar. Large quantities of these ingredients are not healthy for us.

‘Ultra-processed foods’ are foods that have lots of ingredients in them and contain additives that you wouldn’t use in home cooking, such as preservatives and artificial colours. For example, ice-cream or biscuits are often ultra-processed foods.

Ultra-processed foods can be low in nutrients so we should only eat small amounts of them to have a healthier diet.

Try this short true-or-false quiz to check your knowledge on food processing.

Think of one food product from the fridge, freezer or cupboard that has been processed.

Why and how has it been processed?

Here are some ideas of processed foods to get you started:

• Tinned foods
• Dried foods
• Frozen vegetables