Natural or synthetic dyes used as coloring agents in processed foods.

Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal.

Any substances taken in by the body that provide nourishment.

The production and movement of food items from point of origin to use or consumption.

The selection of one food over another.

Use of written, printed, or graphic materials upon or accompanying a food or its container or wrapper. The concept includes ingredients, NUTRITIONAL VALUE, directions, warnings, and other relevant information.

Measurement and evaluation of the components of substances to be taken as FOOD.

Bone marrow-derived lymphocytes that possess cytotoxic properties, classically directed against transformed and virus-infected cells. Unlike T CELLS; and B CELLS; NK CELLS are not antigen specific. The cytotoxicity of natural killer cells is determined by the collective signaling of an array of inhibitory and stimulatory CELL SURFACE RECEPTORS. A subset of T-LYMPHOCYTES referred to as NATURAL KILLER T CELLS shares some of the properties of this cell type.

Acquired or learned food preferences.

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in food and food products. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms: the presence of various non-pathogenic bacteria and fungi in cheeses and wines, for example, is included in this concept.

The industry concerned with processing, preparing, preserving, distributing, and serving of foods and beverages.

Gastrointestinal disturbances, skin eruptions, or shock due to allergic reactions to allergens in food.

The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage.

A non-medical term defined by the lay public as a food that has little or no preservatives, which has not undergone major processing, enrichment or refinement and which may be grown without pesticides. (from Segen, The Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)

Any aspect of the operations in the preparation, processing, transport, storage, packaging, wrapping, exposure for sale, service, or delivery of food.

Activities involved in ensuring the safety of FOOD including avoidance of bacterial and other contamination.

Prepared food that is ready to eat or partially prepared food that has a final preparation time of a few minutes or less.

The withholding of food in a structured experimental situation.

Any food that has been supplemented with essential nutrients either in quantities that are greater than those present normally, or which are not present in the food normally. Fortified food includes also food to which various nutrients have been added to compensate for those removed by refinement or processing. (From Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)

The sequence of transfers of matter and energy from organism to organism in the form of FOOD. Food chains intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume more than one type of animal or plant. PLANTS, which convert SOLAR ENERGY to food by PHOTOSYNTHESIS, are the primary food source. In a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is eaten by a larger animal. In a parasite chain, a smaller organism consumes part of a larger host and may itself be parasitized by smaller organisms. In a saprophytic chain, microorganisms live on dead organic matter.

Food derived from genetically modified organisms (ORGANISMS, GENETICALLY MODIFIED).

Functions, equipment, and facilities concerned with the preparation and distribution of ready-to-eat food.