English for Food Technology_Class 22D

Meeting 3

CLASSIFICATION OF SUBSTANCES AS FOODS

Some components of our diet, which might be assumed to be foods, prove on

examination not to be, whereas others, which might be thought to have no food value,
contribute nutrients to our diet and are therefore properly classified as foods.
The following examples illustrate this:
Salt and pepper, both of which form a part of our diet, are used as condiments, but
this in itself does not qualify them to rank as foods. Salt is a food because, in addition to
being a seasoning agent, it acts as a regulator of body functions, but pepper has no function
except as a flavouring agent and is therefore not a food.
The mineral element iron is classified as a nutrient because it is necessary for the
formation of haemoglobin, which is essential to life because it regulates the flow of oxygen
round the body. Thus, any substance which supplies iron to the diet is a food. This leads to
the curious conclusion that rusty pots should be considered as a food, because they are a
potent source of iron. it has been suggested that much of the high iron content of curry
powder is derived from the iron vessels in which it is prepared.
Tea, coffee and cocoa are all widely used beverages which most people would classify
as foods. The infusion obtained by adding boiling water to tea leaves has little more
nutritional value, however, than the water itself. Tea and coffee are both esteemed on
account of their flavour and mild stimulating action, the latter being due to the presence of
caffeine. They are, in fact, drugs and not foods because they act through the nervous
system and not the digestive system. The nutritional value of a cup of tea or coffee is
almost entirely derived from the milk, sugar, and water which it contains. cocoa, on the
other hand, contains the crushed cocoa bean and is, therefore, a true food because the
nutrients of the bean are present in the beverage.
Alcoholic beverages contain ethyl alcohol. This substance is both a drug and a food
because it affects the nervous system and is also broken down inside the body with the
liberation of energy.
All foods of vegetable origin contain the complex carbohydrate cellulose, yet even
though this is a common component of diet and is a carbohydrate, it has no nutritive value
because the body is unable to utilize it.
GLOSSARY - FOOD AND FOOD SCIENCE
Write the definition of these vocabularies!

region of study : .....................................................................................

assume, v. : .....................................................................................
nutrient, n. : .....................................................................................
pepper, n. : .....................................................................................
condiment, n. : .....................................................................................
rank, v. : .....................................................................................
seasoning agent : .....................................................................................
flavouring agent : .....................................................................................
curious, adj. : .....................................................................................
rusty, adj. : .....................................................................................
rust, n. : .....................................................................................
pot, n. : .....................................................................................
potent, adj. : .....................................................................................
vessel, n. : .....................................................................................
beverage, n. : .....................................................................................
infusion, n. : .....................................................................................
nutritional value : .....................................................................................
esteem, v. : .....................................................................................
caffeine, n. : .....................................................................................
digestive system : .....................................................................................
nervous system v. : .....................................................................................
crush, v. : .....................................................................................
affect, v. : .....................................................................................
origin, n. : .....................................................................................
EXERCISES

A. Read the passage again and then answer the following questions:

1. How would you define food?

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2. What are condiments, flavouring agents and seasoning agents?

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3. What is the difference in nutritive value between salt and pepper?

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4. Should we eat rusty pots to get more iron in our diet? Why?
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5. Are tea, coffee and cocoa foods or not? What is the difference among them?
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6. Are alcoholic beverages food or not?

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7. What is cellulose?
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B. Say whether the following components in our diet are food or not. Explain why!

salt : ...................................................................................
pepper : ...................................................................................
iron : ...................................................................................
tea : ...................................................................................
coffee : ...................................................................................
cocoa : ...................................................................................
alcoholic beverages : ...................................................................................
carbohydrates : ...................................................................................
cellulose : ...................................................................................
Grammar: Modal Verbs
C. Underline all the modal forms in the text and make a list.
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