a shortage of food. It can be used to improve peoples' lives in the short term, so that a society can increase its standard of living to the point that food aid is no longer required.[45] Conversely, badly managed food aid can create problems by disrupting local markets, depressing crop prices, and discouraging food production. Sometimes a cycle of food aid dependence can develop.[46] Its provision, or threatened withdrawal, is sometimes used as a political tool to influence the policies of the destination country, a strategy known as food politics. Sometimes, food aid provisions will require certain types of food be purchased from certain sellers, and food aid can be misused to enhance the markets of donor countries.[47] International efforts to distribute food to the neediest countries are often co-ordinated by the World Food Programme.[48]
Safety
Main article: Food safety
Salmonella bacteria is a common cause of foodborne illness, particularly in undercooked chicken and chicken eggsFoodborne illness, commonly called "food poisoning," is caused by bacteria, toxins, viruses, parasites, and prions. Roughly 7 million people die of food poisoning each year, with about 10 times as many suffering from a non-fatal version.[49] The two most common factors leading to cases of bacterial foodborne illness are cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food from other uncooked foods and improper temperature control. Less commonly, acute adverse reactions can also occur if chemical contamination of food occurs, for example from improper storage, or use of non-food grade soaps and disinfectants. Food can also be adulterated by a very wide range of articles (known as 'foreign bodies') during farming, manufacture, cooking, packaging, distribution or sale. These foreign bodies can include pests or their droppings, hairs, cigarette butts, wood chips, and all manner of other contaminants. It is possible for certain types of food to become contaminated if stored or presented in an unsafe container, such as a ceramic pot with lead-based glaze.[49]
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) FlowchartFood poisoning has been recognized as a disease of man since as early as Hippocrates.[50] The sale of rancid, contaminated or adulterated food was commonplace until introduction of hygiene, refrigeration, and vermin controls in the 19th century. Discovery of techniques for killing bacteria using heat and other microbiological studies by scientists such as Louis Pasteur contributed to the modern sanitation standards that are ubiquitous in developed nations today. This was further underpinned by the work of Justus von Liebig, which led to the development of modern food storage and food preservation methods.[51] In more recent years, a greater understanding of the causes of food-borne illnesses has led to the development of more systematic approaches such as the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), which can identify and eliminate many risks.[52]
Allergies
Main article: food allergy
Some people have allergies or sensitivities to foods which are not problematic to most people. This occurs when a person's immune system mistakes a certain food protein for a harmful foreign agent and attacks it. About 2% of adults and 8% of children have a food allergy.[53] The amount of the food substance required to provoke a reaction in a particularly susceptible individual can be quite small. In some instances, traces of food in the air, too minute to be perceived through smell, have been known to provoke lethal reactions in extremely sensitive individuals. Common food allergens are gluten, corn, shellfish (mollusks), peanuts, and soy.[53] Allergens frequently produce symptoms such as diarrhea, rashes, bloating, vomiting, and regurgitation. The digestive complaints usually develop within half an hour of ingesting the allergen.[53]
Rarely, food allergies can lead to a medical emergency, such as anaphylactic shock, hypotension (low blood pressure), and loss of consciousness. An allergen associated with this type of reaction is peanut, although latex products can induce similar reactions.[53] Initial treatment is with epinephrine (adrenaline), often carried by known patients in the form of an Epi-pen or Twinject.[54][55]
Diet
A package of halal-certified frozen food (steamed cabbage buns) from Jiangsu province, ChinaMain article: Diet (nutrition)
Cultural and religious diets
Dietary habits are the habitual decisions a person or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat.[56] Although humans are omnivores, many cultures hold some food preferences and some food taboos. Dietary choices can also define cultures and play a role in religion. For example, only kosher foods are permitted by Judaism, and halal foods by Islam, in the diet of believers.[57] In addition, the dietary choices of different countries or regions have different characteristics. This is highly related to a culture's cuisine.
Children in this photograph from a Nigerian orphanage show symptoms of malnutrition, with four illustrating the gray-blond hair symptomatic of kwashiorkor.
Diet deficiencies
Dietary habits play a significant role in the health and mortality of all humans. Imbalances between the consumed fuels and expended energy results in either starvation or excessive reserves of adipose tissue, known as body fat.[58] Poor intake of various vitamins and minerals can lead to diseases which can have far-reaching effects on health. For instance, 30% of the world's population either has, or is at risk for developing, Iodine deficiency.[59] It is estimated that at least 3 million children are blind due to vitamin A deficiency.[60] Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy.[61] Calcium, Vitamin D and phosphorus are inter-related; the consumption of each may affect the absorption of the others. Kwashiorkor and marasmus are childhood disorders caused by lack of dietary protein.[62]
Moral, ethical, and health conscious diet
Many individuals limit what foods they eat for reasons of morality, or other habit. For instance vegetarians choose to forgo food from animal sources to varying degrees. Others choose a healthier diet, avoiding sugars or animal fats and increasing consumption of dietary fiber and antioxidants.[63] Obesity, a serious problem in the western world, leads to higher chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, and many other diseases.[64] More recently, dietary habits have been influenced by the concerns that some people have about possible impacts on health or the environment from genetically modified food.[65] Further concerns about the impact of industrial farming (grains) on animal welfare, human health and the environment are also having an effect on contemporary human dietary habits. This has led to the emergence of a counterculture with a preference for organic and local food.[66]
Nutrition
USDA Food PyramidBetween the extremes of optimal health and death from starvation or malnutrition, there is an array of disease states that can be caused or alleviated by changes in diet. Deficiencies, excesses and imbalances in diet can produce negative impacts on health, which may lead to diseases such as scurvy, obesity or osteoporosis, as well as psychological and behavioral problems. The science of nutrition attempts to understand how and why specific dietary aspects influence health.
Nutrients in food are grouped into several categories. Macronutrients means fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Micronutrients are the minerals and vitamins. Additionally food contains water and dietary fiber.
Legal definition
Some countries list a legal definition of food. These countries list food as any item that is to be processed, partially processed or unprocessed for consumption. The listing of items included as foodstuffs include any substance, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be, ingested by humans. In addition to these foodstuffs, drink, chewing gum, water or other items processed into said food items are part of the legal definition of food. Items not included in the legal definition of food include animal feed, live animals unless being prepared for sale in a market, plants prior to harvesting, medicinal products, cosmetics, tobacco and tobacco products, narcotic or psychotropic substances, and residues and contaminants.[67]
See also
Food portal
Agropedia portal
Category:Lists of foods
Contemporary Food Engineering
Food and Bioprocess Technology
Food security
List of ambiguous food titles
Non-food crop
Optimal foraging theory
Food Science
Food Engineering
Notes
^ McGee, 333-334.
^ McGee ,253.
^ McGee, Chapter 9.
^ McGee, Chapter 7.
^ McGee, Chapter 6.
^ Davidson, 81-82.
^ Mason
^ a b Messer, 53-91.
^ Mead, 11-19
^ McGee, 142-143.
^ McGee, 202-206
^ McGee Chapter 14.
^ a b c Mead, 11-19.
^ McGee
^ Campbell, 312.
^ McGee, 784.
^ Davidson, 782-783
^ McGee, 539,784.
^ McGee, 771-791
^ Davidson, 356.
^ Asado Argentina
^ Davidson, 786-787.
^ Robuchon, 224.
^ Davidson, 656
^ Davidson, 660-661.
^ United States Department of Agriculture
^ Aguilera, 1-3.
^ Miguel, 3.
^ a b c Jango-Cohen
^ Hannaford
^ The Economic Research Service of the USDA
^ Regmi
^ CIA World Factbook
^ World Trade Organization, The Uruguay Round
^ Van den Bossche
^ Wansink, Marketing Nutrition, 501-3.
^ Smith, 501-3.
^ Benson
^ Humphery
^ Magdoff, Fred (Ed.) "[T]he farmer's share of the food dollar (after paying for input costs) has steadily declined from about 40 percent in 1910 to less than 10 percent in 1990."
^ CNN "[Food prices rising across the world" 24 March 2008
^ May 2008, Global Trends: - Food Production and Consumption: The China Effect, IBISWorld
^ World Health Organization
^ Howe, 353-372
^ World Food Programme
^ Shah
^ Kripke
^ United Nations World Food program
^ a b National Institute of Health, MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
^ Hippocrates, On Acute Diseases.
^ Magner, 243-498
^ USDA
^ a b c d National Institute of Health
^ About Epipen, Epipen.com
^ About Twinject, Twinject.com
^ Wansink, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
^ Simoons
^ Nicklas
^ Merson, 245
^ Merson, 231.
^ Merson, 464.
^ Merson, 224.
^ Carpenter
^ Merson, 266-268.
^ Parekh,187-206.
^ Schor
^ United Kingdom Office of Public Sector Information
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