Food Technology Vocabulary in English

Pasteurisation is a heat treatment process invented by the French scientist Louis Pasteur in the nineteenth century. Food or drink — most commonly milk and fruit juice — is heated to a specific temperature for a set period of time, which kills most harmful microorganisms such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. The temperature is carefully controlled so that the product’s taste and nutritional value are not significantly affected. Pasteurisation transformed public health by dramatically reducing food-borne illnesses that were once common.

A food additive is any substance added to food intentionally for a specific technological purpose during processing. The term covers a very wide range of substances — colours, flavours, sweeteners, thickeners, and more. A preservative is a type of additive whose specific purpose is to extend shelf life by preventing or slowing the growth of bacteria, moulds, and yeasts that cause food to spoil. In other words, all preservatives are additives, but not all additives are preservatives. In the UK, approved additives are listed with an E number on food labels.

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It is a systematic, science-based approach to identifying potential food safety hazards — biological, chemical, or physical — and putting controls in place at specific points in the production process to prevent them from occurring. HACCP was originally developed for NASA to ensure the safety of food for astronauts. Today, it is the standard framework for food safety management worldwide, and all UK food businesses are legally required to have a documented HACCP system or a procedure based on its principles.

Fermentation is a process in which microorganisms — such as bacteria, yeast, or moulds — break down carbohydrates and produce useful by-products. In food technology, fermentation is used to make a huge variety of products: bread (where yeast produces carbon dioxide that makes the dough rise), beer and wine (where yeast converts sugars to alcohol), yoghurt and cheese (where bacteria convert lactose to lactic acid), and traditional fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut and kimchi. Fermentation can improve flavour, increase shelf life, and in some cases enhance the nutritional value of food.

A novel food is any food or food ingredient that was not significantly consumed by people in the European Union before May 1997. Examples include insect protein, algae-based products, chia seeds (before they became widely used), and foods produced using new technologies. Before a novel food can be sold to consumers in the UK, it must go through a safety assessment by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to demonstrate that it is safe, nutritionally acceptable, and properly labelled. This process can take several years.

Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is a technique in which the normal air inside a food package is replaced with a carefully chosen mixture of gases — typically a combination of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and sometimes oxygen — to slow down the natural processes of spoilage. Different products require different gas mixtures: for example, red meat often uses a high proportion of oxygen to maintain its red colour, while pre-packed salads use a higher level of carbon dioxide to inhibit bacterial growth. MAP significantly extends shelf life without using chemical preservatives.

Ordinary drying uses heat to evaporate water from food, which can damage heat-sensitive vitamins, alter flavour, and change the texture. Freeze-drying (also called lyophilisation) first freezes the food and then removes the ice by sublimation — turning it directly from a solid into a vapour under very low pressure, without passing through a liquid stage. Because no high heat is used, freeze-dried food retains much more of its original colour, flavour, and nutritional content. The resulting product is very lightweight and can last for years, making it ideal for camping food, space missions, and emergency rations.

A functional food is one that provides a health benefit beyond basic nutrition, either because it naturally contains bioactive compounds or because beneficial substances have been added during processing. Examples include probiotic yoghurt (which contains live bacteria thought to support gut health), omega-3-enriched eggs (where the hens are fed flaxseed), and orange juice fortified with calcium. There is no single legal definition of functional food in UK law, but health claims made on packaging must be approved by the relevant authorities and backed by scientific evidence.

Traceability is the ability to track a food product and its ingredients through every step of the supply chain — from the farm or factory where it was produced, through processing and distribution, to the shop shelf. Strong traceability is essential for food safety: if a contaminated product is identified, manufacturers and retailers can quickly locate all affected batches and withdraw them from sale before more consumers are harmed. The 2013 horsemeat scandal in the UK highlighted how complex modern food supply chains can be, and strengthened the argument for more robust traceability systems.

Extrusion is a high-volume food manufacturing process in which raw ingredients are mixed into a dough or paste and then forced through a shaped opening (called a die) under high heat and pressure. As the material exits the die, it expands and takes on the shape of the opening. The process can cook the food at the same time, which is called cooking extrusion. It is used to make a wide range of products including breakfast cereals, snack crisps, pasta, pet food, and textured vegetable protein (TVP). Extrusion is highly efficient and allows manufacturers to create consistent shapes and textures at speed.