Many 

agribusinesses and food processors source raw materials from smallholder farmers. This is

particularly true in certain sectors, such as coffee, cocoa and sugar. Over the past 20 years,
[when?]
 there has been a shift towards more traceable supply chains. Rather than purchasing crops that
have passed through several layers of collectors, firms are now sourcing directly from farmers or
trusted aggregators. The drivers for this change include concerns about food safety, child
labor and environmental sustainability as well as a desire to increase productivity and improve crop
quality.[40]
In October 2009, the European Commission issued a Communication concerning "a better
functioning food supply chain in Europe", addressing the three sectors of the European
economy which comprise the food supply chain: agriculture, food processing industries, and the
distribution sectors.[41] An earlier interim report on food prices (published in December 2008) had
already raised concerns about the food supply chain.[41] Arising out of the two reports, the
Commission established a "European Food Prices Monitoring Tool", an initiative developed
by Eurostat and intended to "increase transparency in the food supply chain".[42]
In March 2022 the Commission noted "the need for EU agriculture and food supply chains to
become more resilient and sustainable".[43]

Regulation[edit]
Supply chain security has become particularly important in recent years.[when?] As a result, supply
chains are often subject to global and local regulations. In the United States, several major
regulations emerged in 2010 that have had a lasting impact on how global supply chains operate.
These new regulations include the Importer Security Filing (ISF)[44] and additional provisions of the
Certified Cargo Screening Program.[45] EU's draft supply chain law are due diligence requirements to
protect human rights and the environment in the supply chain. [46]

Development and design[edit]

With the increasing globalization and easier access to different kinds of alternative products in
today's markets, the importance of product design to generating demand is more significant than
ever. In addition, as supply, and therefore competition, among companies for the limited market
demand increases and as pricing and other marketing elements become less distinguishing factors,
product design likewise plays a different role by providing attractive features to generate demand. In
this context, demand generation is used to define how attractive a product design is in terms of
creating demand. In other words, it is the ability of a product's design to generate demand by
satisfying customer expectations. But product design affects not only demand generation but also
manufacturing processes, cost, quality, and lead time. The product design affects the associated
supply chain and its requirements directly, including manufacturing, transportation, quality, quantity,
production schedule, material selection, production technologies, production policies, regulations,
and laws. Broadly, the success of the supply chain depends on the product design and the
capabilities of the supply chain, but the reverse is also true: the success of the product depends on
the supply chain that produces it.
Since the product design dictates multiple requirements on the supply chain, as mentioned
previously, then once a product design is completed, it drives the structure of the supply chain,
limiting the flexibility of engineers to generate and evaluate different (and potentially more cost-effect
smoking fish and meat, extracting and filtering oils, canning food, preserving food through food
irradiation, and candling eggs, as well as homogenizing and pasteurizing milk.[2][3][4]
Contamination and spoilage problems in primary food processing can lead to significant public
health threats, as the resulting foods are used so widely.[2] However, many forms of processing
contribute to improved food safety and longer shelf life before the food spoils.[3] Commercial food
processing uses control systems such as hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP)
and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to reduce the risk of harm.[2]

Secondary food processing[edit]

Baking bread is an example of secondary food processing.

Secondary food processing is the everyday process of creating food from ingredients that are ready
to use. Baking bread, regardless of whether it is made at home, in a small bakery, or in a large
factory, is an example of secondary food processing.[2] Fermenting fish and making wine, beer, and
other alcoholic products are traditional forms of secondary food processing.[4] Sausages are a
common form of secondary processed meat, formed by comminution (grinding) of meat that has
already undergone primary processing.[5] Most of the secondary food processing methods known to
human kind are commonly described as cooking methods.

Tertiary food processing[edit]

Tertiary food processing is the commercial production of what is commonly called processed food.
[2]
 These are ready-to-eat or heat-and-serve foods, such as TV dinners and re-heated airline meals.

History[edit]
Food processing dates back to the prehistoric ages when crude processing incorporated fermenting,
sun drying, preserving with salt, and various types of cooking (such as roasting, smoking, steaming,
and oven baking), Such basic food processing involved chemical enzymatic changes to the basic
structure of food in its natural form, as well served to build a barrier against surface microbial activity
that caused rapid decay. Salt-preservation was especially common for foods that constituted warrior
and sailors' diets until the introduction of canning methods. Evidence for the existence of these
methods can be found in the writings of the
ancient Greek, Chaldean, Egyptian and Roman civilizations as well as archaeological evidence from
Europe, North and South America and Asia. These tried and tested processing techniques remained
essentially the same until the advent of the industrial revolution. Examples of ready-meals also date
back to before the preindustrial revolution, and include dishes such as Cornish pasty and Haggis.
Both during ancient times and today in modern society these are considered processed foods.
Michael Foods egg-processing plant in Wakefield, Nebraska

Modern food processing technology developed in the 19th and 20th centuries was developed in a
large part to serve military needs. In 1809, Nicolas Appert invented a hermetic bottling technique that
would preserve food for French troops which ultimately contributed to the development of tinning,
and subsequently canning by Peter Durand in 1810. Although initially expensive and somewhat
hazardous due to the lead used in cans, canned goods would later become a staple around the
world.[6] Pasteurization, discovered by Louis Pasteur in 1864, improved the quality and safety of
preserved foods and introduced the wine, beer, and milk preservation.

A form of pre-made split-pea soup that has become traditional

In the 20th century, World War II, the space race and the rising consumer society in developed
countries contributed to the growth of food processing with such advances as spray
drying, evaporation, juice concentrates, freeze drying and the introduction of artificial sweeteners,
colouring agents, and such preservatives as sodium benzoate. In the late 20th century, products
such as dried instant soups, reconstituted fruits and juices, and self cooking meals such
as MRE food ration were developed. By the 20th century, automatic appliances like microwave
oven, blender, and rotimatic paved way for convenience cooking.
In western Europe and North America, the second half of the 20th century witnessed a rise in the
pursuit of convenience. Food processing companies marketed their products especially towards
middle-class working wives and mothers. Frozen foods (often credited to Clarence Birdseye) found
their success in sales of juice concentrates and "TV dinners".[7] Processors utilised the perceived
value of time to appeal to the postwar population, and this same appeal contributes to the success
of convenience foods today.

Benefits and drawbacks[edit]

Benefits[edit]

Processed seafood – fish, squid, prawn balls and simulated crab sticks (surimi)

Benefits of food processing include toxin removal, preservation, easing marketing and distribution
tasks, and increasing food consistency. In addition, it increases yearly availability of many foods,
enables transportation of delicate perishable foods across long distances and makes many kinds of
foods safe to eat by de-activating spoilage and pathogenic micro-organisms.
Modern supermarkets would not exist without modern food processing techniques, and long
voyages would not be possible.
Processed foods are usually less susceptible to early spoilage than fresh foods and are better suited
for long-distance transportation from the source to the consumer.[3] When they were first introduced,
some processed foods helped to alleviate food shortages and improved the overall nutrition of
populations as it made many new foods available to the masses.[8]
Processing can also reduce the incidence of food-borne disease. Fresh materials, such as
fresh produce and raw meats, are more likely to harbour pathogenic micro-organisms (e.g.
Salmonella) capable of causing serious illnesses.
The extremely varied modern diet is only truly possible on a wide scale because of food processing.
Transportation of more exotic foods, as well as the elimination of much hard labor gives the modern
eater easy access to a wide variety of food unimaginable to their ancestors.[9]
The act of processing can often improve the taste of food significantly.[10]
Mass production of food is much cheaper overall than individual production of meals from raw
ingredients. Therefore, a large profit potential exists for the manufacturers and suppliers of
processed food products. Individuals may see a benefit in convenience, but rarely see any direct
financial cost benefit in using processed food as compared to home preparation.
Processed food freed people from the large amount of time involved in preparing and cooking
"natural" unprocessed foods.[11] The increase in free time allows people much more choice in life
style than previously allowed. In many families the adults are working away from home and therefore
there is little time for the preparation of food based on fresh ingredients. The food industry offers
products that fulfill many different needs: e.g. fully prepared ready meals that can be heated up in
the microwave oven within a few minutes.
Modern food processing also improves the quality of life for people with allergies, diabetics, and
other people who cannot consume some common food elements. Food processing can also add
extra nutrients such as vitamins.

Drawbacks[edit]

Meat packages in a Roman supermarket

Processing of food can decrease its nutritional density. The amount of nutrients lost depends on the
food and processing method. For example, heat destroys vitamin C. Therefore, canned fruits
possess less vitamin C than their fresh alternatives. The USDA conducted a study of nutrient
retention in 2004, creating a table of foods, levels of preparation, and nutrition.[12]
New research highlighting the importance to human health of a rich microbial environment in the
intestine indicates that abundant food processing (not fermentation of foods) endangers that
environment.[13]
Using some food additives represents another safety concern. The health risks of any given additive
vary greatly from person to person; for example using sugar as an additive endangers diabetics. In
the European Union, only European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved food additives (e.g.,
sweeteners, preservatives, stabilizers) are permitted at specified levels for use in food products.
Approved additives receive an E number (E for Europe), simplifying communication about food
additives included in the ingredients' list for all the different languages spoken in the EU. As effects
of chemical additives are learned, changes to laws and regulatory practices are made to make such
processed foods more safe.
Food processing is typically a mechanical process that utilizes extrusion, large mixing, grinding,
chopping and emulsifying equipment in the production process. These processes introduce a
number of contamination risks. Such contaminants are left over material from a previous operation,
animal or human bodily fluids, microorganisms, nonmetallic and metallic fragments. Further
processing of these contaminants will result in downstream equipment failure and the risk of
ingestion by the consumer. Example: A mixing bowl or grinder is used over time, metal parts in
contact with food will tend to fail and fracture. This type of failure will introduce into the product
stream small to large metal contaminants.[citation needed] Further processing of these metal fragments will
result in downstream equipment failure and the risk of ingestion by the consumer. Food
manufacturers utilize industrial metal detectors to detect and reject automatically any metal
fragment. Large food processors will utilize many metal detectors within the processing stream to
reduce both damage to processing machinery as well as risk to consumer health.[citation needed]
Food processing does have some benefits, such as making food last longer and making products
more convenient. However, heavily processed foods also have drawbacks. Whole foods and those
that are only minimally processed, like frozen vegetables without any sauce, tend to be more
healthy. An unhealthy diet high in fat, added sugar and salt, such as one containing much highly
processed food, can increase the risk for cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to the
World Health Organization.[citation needed]

Added sodium[edit]
One of the main sources for sodium in the diet is processed foods. Sodium, mostly in the form
of sodium chloride, i.e. salt, is added to prevent spoilage, add flavor and improve the texture of these
foods. Some processed food may contain over 2% salt.[14] Americans consume an average of 3436
milligrams of sodium per day, which is higher than the recommended limit of 2300 milligrams per day
for healthy people, and more than twice the limit of 1500 milligrams per day for those at increased
risk for heart disease.

Added sugars[edit]
While it is not necessary to limit the sugars found naturally in whole, unprocessed foods like fresh
fruit, eating too much added sugar found in many processed foods increases the risk of heart
disease, obesity, cavities and Type 2 diabetes. The American Heart Association recommends
women limit added sugars to no more than 420 kilojoules (100 kilocalories), or 25 grams, and men
limit added sugars to no more than 650 kJ (155 kcal), or about 38.75 grams, per day. Currently,
Americans consume an average of 1,490 kJ (355 kcal) from added sugars each day.

Nutrient losses