Food processing. Translate the text into your own language

Most foods we eat have been processed. Processing changes the raw farm product into a form people can consume. Many processes – such as pasteurization, canning, drying, and freezing are done to preserve the food product. Food can also be preserved by a process called irradiation that uses radiation to kill bacteria. Some processes improve the quality of food. For example, homogenized milk does not separate and tenderized beef steaks are easier to eat.

Fresh eggs, fruits and vegetables may be only washed and sorted before they the market. Or may be dried or frozen. Fruits and vegetables also may be canned or pickled or used to make juice.

Meat packers slaughter cattle, hogs, and sheep. They then prepare the fresh meat for shipment to market. Meat packers also can, cure, freeze, and smoke meat, and they make it into sausages. Processors also slaughter and prepare chickens, turkeys, and other poultry for market. Large amounts of fish and shellfish are cleaned and marketed fresh. Processors also can freeze or pickle certain kinds fish and shellfish. Dairy plants pasteurize and homogenize milk. Most dairies also add vitamins to milk. In addition, dairies make butter, cheese, ice cream, and yogurt from milk.

Processors manufacture many foods from basic plant and animal materials. For example, they make sugar from sugar beets and sugar cane, syrup from corn and cooking oil from peanuts, soybeans, and various other plants. Other manufactured foods include synthetic and convenience foods. Processors developed margarine – which generally is made from corn, cottonseed, safflower, or soybean oil – as imitation butter. They make egg substitutes from egg whites and other ingredients. Processors use cooked meats and vegetables in canned and dried soups, frozen dinners, and canned and frozen casseroles. They combine dried eggs, flour, sugar, and other foods in packaged dessert mixes.

Many processors add chemicals called additives to foods. Various kinds of additives may be used in foods to improve or retain some quality, such as its color, flavor, nutritional value, or storage life. Additives require approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).