Advanced food processing technique
Techniques to improve the flavor, texture, nutritional value, safety, appearance and overall aesthetic appeal of various foods—involving cooking over fire, smoking, steaming, baking, fermenting, sun drying, or preserving with salt or spices—were already being practiced before recorded history.
Today, imaginative and effective engineered approaches—many drawn directly from the chemical engineers’ toolbox—routinely add nutrients, improve aesthetic appeal (in terms of a food’s flavor, texture, and appearance), enable longer distance transport (leading to multiseasonal availability), extend shelf life, and remove microorganisms that contribute to spoilage and are responsible for food-borne illnesses. Modern food processing can also improve the quality of life for people with food allergies (by removing or neutralizing the proteins and other substances that create allergic reactions in certain people) and for diabetics (by reducing sugar content and providing sugar-free alternatives).