639 articles
Food additive
Food additive: substance intentionally added to food for a technological purpose (preservation, colour, texture, emulsification), regulated via FDA petitions, EU positive lists and JECFA ADIs; E-number labelling, exposure data, and post-2023 actions on titanium dioxide and Red No. 3.
Food Assistance
Food assistance: aid providing food, vouchers, or cash to people lacking sufficient nutritious food. Covers U.S. international programs (Food for Peace/P.L. 480, McGovern-Dole, EFSP, WFP partnerships) and domestic SNAP, reaching 40 million Americans monthly.
Food bank
Food bank: nonprofit warehouse organization collecting surplus and donated food for redistribution to food pantries and charities; also called banque alimentaire. Originated 1967 in Phoenix, Arizona (St. Mary's Food Bank, John van Hengel); distinct from a food pantry, which hands food directly to households.
Food coloring
Food coloring: dyes, pigments, or substances (color additives) added to food to impart or restore color. Distinguishing facts: FDA premarket approval, seven certified FD&C dyes, certification-exempt natural colors, Red 3 ban, EU E numbers.
Food Corporation of India (भारतीय खाद्य निगम)
Food Corporation of India (भारतीय खाद्य निगम, FCI), a Schedule-A Government of India PSU under the Food Corporations Act 1964, operational since 14 January 1965, procures, stores, moves, and distributes foodgrains at MSP for the PDS, NFSA, and buffer stocks.
Food desert
Food desert: a low-income area, per USDA a census tract with 500 people or 33% of residents more than 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from a supermarket; also called low-income, low-access tracts; coined 1995, contested term versus food apartheid.
Food engineering
Food engineering: application of engineering principles, especially chemical engineering unit operations, to food processing, preservation, packaging, and safety; founded on Appert canning, Pasteur pasteurization, refrigeration; now includes HPP, nonthermal technologies, and AI-driven process optimization.
Food extrusion
Food extrusion, or extrusion cooking, is a continuous HTST thermomechanical process using screws and dies to cook, shape, and texturize snacks, cereals, pasta, pet food, and plant-based meat analogues.
Food industry
Food industry: the companies handling production, processing, preservation, packaging, and distribution of food within the agri-food sector. Key facts: EU agri-food employs 16 million, contributes €603 billion; global food trade USD 1.9 trillion (2023); food and beverage industry emits 20-30% of global GHG.
Food Inspection
Food inspection: official government examination of food facilities, farms, and imports to verify compliance with safety law. Split in the U.S. between FDA and USDA's FSIS; risk-based, HACCP-influenced, with FSMA frequency mandates and documented foreign-inspection shortfalls.
Food irradiation
Food irradiation treats approved foods with ionizing radiation (gamma rays, e-beams, x-rays) to kill pathogens and insects and extend shelf life; FDA-approved since 1963, regulated as a food additive, labeled with the Radura symbol.
Food Lion
Food Lion is an American supermarket chain founded 1957 in Salisbury, N.C. as Food Town, now an Ahold Delhaize USA brand with 1,100+ stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states, over 82,000 associates, and a low-price, hunger-relief-focused omnichannel grocery identity.
Food packaging
Food packaging: materials used to package or wrap food in direct or indirect contact. Also called food-contact materials. Functions, materials, active and intelligent systems, FDA and EU regulation, and life-cycle environmental evidence.
Food processing
Food processing: transformation of raw agricultural products (grains, meats, fruits, milk) into ingredients and processed foods using equipment, energy, and tools; spans 400,000 years from fire to canning, pasteurization, HPP, NOVA classification, and AI-driven inspection.
Food processing industry
Food processing industry: businesses transforming agricultural raw materials into food, from home-scale to large-scale operations; covers preservation methods, value chains, US regulation, non-thermal technologies, and the NOVA ultra-processed food health debate.
Food Quality
Food quality: the total attributes giving a food value to consumers, spanning safety, nutrition, sensory, and origin. Measured via Codex definitions, meal and diet quality indices, nutrient profiling, sensory and instrumental analysis, and HACCP-based regulation.
Food safety
Food safety, also called food sanitation, is the handling, preparation, and storage of food to prevent contamination and foodborne illness, causing over 200 diseases and 1.52 million deaths yearly.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (भारतीय खाद्य सुरक्षा और मानक प्राधिकरण)
FSSAI (भारतीय खाद्य सुरक्षा और मानक प्राधिकरण) is India's statutory food safety regulator under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, established 2008, headquartered in Delhi under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, setting standards, licensing food businesses via FoSCoS, and enforcing with State authorities.
Food science
Food science, also called bromatology, is the multidisciplinary study of the physical, microbial, and chemical makeup of food and the processes that transform it into safe, nutritious products.
Food security
Food security: condition in which all people at all times have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food. Four pillars: availability, access, utilization, stability; concept dates to 1974 World Food Conference; 645 million faced hunger in 2025.
Food security during the COVID-19 pandemic
Food security during the COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus famine, was the worldwide rise in hunger from 2020 as lockdowns cut incomes and disrupted food supply chains.
Food security in India
Food security in India: the FAO-defined condition of access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food, pursued through the Public Distribution System and the National Food Security Act 2013 covering about 80.67 crore people, with GHI measurement disputes and PMGKAY free grain.
Food spoilage
Food spoilage is the microbial, enzymatic, and chemical deterioration that makes food unacceptable, distinct from pathogenic contamination. Key controls are temperature, water activity, and hurdle preservation; it drives 15–20% global food waste.
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is an independent UK government department responsible for food safety and hygiene in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, established in 2000.
Food storage
Food storage, also called stored food or a food cache, covers practices like drying, canning, and refrigeration that keep food edible and safe between production and eating.
Food technology
Food technology applies science and engineering to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, and distribution of food, drawing on chemistry, microbiology, and engineering to ensure safety, quality, and shelf life.
Food, Inc.
Food, Inc. (2008) is Robert Kenner's Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning documentary on corporate control of the American food supply, based on Schlosser and Pollan; its 2024 sequel is Food, Inc. 2.
Forrest Mars Sr.
Forrest Edward Mars Sr. was an American confectionery businessman who created M&M's in 1940 and built Mars, Incorporated into one of the world's largest candy companies.
Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason: British luxury food retailer founded 1707 in Piccadilly, London by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason; only department store earning most revenue from food and drink; owned via Wittington by the Garfield Weston Foundation; holds two royal warrants and ships to 120+ countries.
Franklin Clarence Mars
Franklin Clarence Mars (1883–1934), American candy maker and founder of Mars, Incorporated; created the Milky Way bar in Minneapolis in 1923, moved to Chicago in 1929, and introduced Snickers in 1930.