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Food processing makes food more edible and can enable it to be kept for longer. Nearly everything we eat or drink has been processed in some way. Primary Processing This is the process where raw food materials are converted to ingredients or edible food products. In its simplest form, it is washing, milling, trimming, squeezing, peeling, ageing and butchery, shelling and chopping. However, complex processes used in the production of vegetable oils, sugar, wine, milk, tea and coffee are also seen as 'primary' processing: extraction and refining, pasteurisation and fermentation. Secondary processing Secondary processing is the conversion of raw ingredients, i.e. the products of primary processing, to edible food products. These procedures may involve one or more of the following: mixing, heating, enrobing, cooling, extruding, drying, layering/dividing, aerating, forming/moulding and fortifying. Secondary processing includes, for example, using flour to make bread or croissants, using milk to make butter or cheese, the manufacture of meat and fish products and, increasingly, the manufacture of complete ready to eat meals. Unit Operations The process of manufacturing food in an industrial context may be divided into individual operations. These are known as 'unit operations'.
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