GC: n

S: WHO – http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs394/en/ (last access: 3 January 2016); FAO – http://www.fao.org/fcit/food-processing/processed-foods/en/ (last access: 3 January 2016).

N: 1. processed (adj): From process (v.) 1530s, “begin legal action against,” from Middle French processer “to prosecute,” from proces. Meaning “prepare by special process” is from 1881, from the noun in English. Of persons, “to register and examine,” by 1935. Related: Processed; processing.
food (n): Middle English foode, fode, from Old English foda “food, nourishment; fuel,” also figurative, from Proto-Germanic *fodon from Germanic *fod- “food,” from PIE *pat-, extended form of root *pa- “to tend, keep, pasture, to protect, to guard, to feed” (cognates: Greek pateisthai “to feed;” Latin pabulum “food, fodder,” panis “bread,” pasci “to feed,” pascare “to graze, pasture, feed,” pastor “shepherd,” literally “feeder;” Avestan pitu- “food;” Old Church Slavonic pasti “feed cattle, pasture;” Russian pishcha “food”).
Food-chain is from 1917. Food-poisoning attested by 1864; food-processor in the kitchen appliance sense from 1973; food-stamp (n.) is from 1962.
2. Food processing is any deliberate change in a food that occurs before it’s available for us to eat.
It can be as simple as freezing or drying food to preserve nutrients and freshness, or as complex as formulating a frozen meal with the right balance of nutrients and ingredients.
3. Processed foods aren’t just microwave meals and other ready meals. The term ‘processed food’ applies to any food that has been altered from its natural state in some way, either for safety reasons or convenience. This means you may be eating more processed food than you realise.
Processed foods aren’t necessarily unhealthy, but anything that’s been processed may contain added salt, sugar and fat.
One advantage of cooking food from scratch at home is that you know exactly what is going into it, including the amount of added salt or sugar.
However, even homemade food sometimes uses processed ingredients.
4. Cheese is perhaps the oldest processed food known to mankind and one of the most ubiquitous foodstuffs in the world.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=processed+food;”>http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=processed+food; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=processed (last access: 3 January 2016). 2. http://www.foodinsight.org/sites/default/files/what-is-a-processed-food.pdf (last access: 3 January 2016). 3. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/what-are-processed-foods.aspx (last access: 3 January 2016). 4. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 3 January 2016).

SYN: processed foodstuff

S: TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 3 January 2016)

CR: alimentary, feeding, health food.