In the past we would not have the luxury of such considerations, we
had to eat to survive and we had to eat whatever was available. Today,
we have a huge choice of food products, places to eat and methods of
cooking.
Regarding food as a commercial commodity rather than a necessity has
seen the development of a huge food industry and the idea of Food
Technology.
Food Processing
Developing new products today involves a lot of research,
experimentation, testing and trailing. A small scale recipe for a
chicken korma cannot simply be multiplied up and used on a production
line to create tens of thousands of meals. Large scale machinery may
affect food in a different way to a domestic cooker, causing meat to
become tough or a sauce too runny. The changes that are needed may
only be subtle but they can make the difference between a profitable
new product and a costly failure.
Processing foods can also involve preserving them and the latest
techniques include accelerated freeze-drying, irradiation and the
production of dried fruits that do not require soaking. Processed food
has changed dramatically as the needs of consumers have altered and as
advances in food technology.
Food Safety
Food safety is not a new phenomenon but its emphasis has definitely
changed. In the past a lack of knowledge caused problems such as sour
milk or inedible meat. However, today it is the scale of food
production that has the potential to cause a food safety issue.
In 1990 a Food Safety Act was introduced that placed a much greater
emphasis on temperature control, monitoring and the maintenance of
records. 'Quality' is now a new key word in the food industry and it
has become everyone's responsibility. Total quality management is a
system often employed to involve all workers in the quality assurance
procedure.
Healthy foods
Since we now have such a wide choice of foods available to us in the
western world, consumers have started to become concerned about the
healthiness of those foods.
In 1998 the Government published Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation
which outlined ways in which the risk of diet-related diseases could
be reduced or avoided.
Healthy eating has now become quite an issue with the British public
and the food industry has had to respond accordingly with low-fat,
low-sugar, low-salt and high-fibre versions of many foods. In
addition, we have the advent of 'nutriceuticals' or functional foods
which contain naturally occurring components with specific nutritional
attributes.
A Food Standards Agency was set up in April 2000. This is an
independent agency run by people with experience in food safety. It
has the role of raising the standard of food in the UK, and exists to:
Ø Provide advice and information to the public and to the Government
on food safety from nutrition and diet.
Ø Protect consumers through effective enforcement and monitoring
Ø Support consumer's choice through promoting accurate and meaningful
labeling.
A healthy diet is one of the several factors that can contribute to
good health. The food industry has now responded to this market
opportunity by producing more ready-made meals with modified
nutritional profiles which will appeal to consumers looking for
healthy food.