Text B. The Present Day Food Industry
UNIT ONE
Text A. From the History of the Food Industry
The food industry is a very ancient industry. Almost every branch of the food industry and particularly those dealing with grain and bread, meat and meat products, fish and fish products, was a well defined trade guild.
The food industry developed from the experience of generations. Milling and baking were well developed in ancient times. There were both private and public ovens for baking bread. Olive oil and honey were widely sold and bought. Cheese was manufactured thousands of years ago. Butter is also an ancient food.
The production of food, as an industry, actually has a history extending as far as the history of modern chemistry because it was considered a part of chemical technology. Thus the book "Chemical Technology" published in 1870 contained the following sections: starch, sugar manufacture, cane sugar, beet sugar, fermentation, wine making, beer brewing, bread baking, manufacture of vinegar, and essential oils.
Let's take some examples. In 1747 Marggraf discovered crystals of sugar in the red beet and suggested that it might be possible to extract it on a commercial basis. Kirchhoff suggested the use of starch for sugar production in 1811.
The food industry developed in full with the growth of the processing industries and with improvement in food machines, transportation, refrigeration, storage and packaging.
Text B. The Present Day Food Industry
The assortment of products of the food enterprises is a wide and varied one.
Bread and macaroni, meat and fish products, milk and butter, canned foods and vitamins, sugar and sweets, tea and coffee, beer and wine and dozens and hundreds of other items are produced at the food mills and factories of the country.
The technological processes and methods of treating raw materials are wide and varied. The food enterprises use heat and refrigeration, high pressure and deep vacuum, electric energy and radiation.
While mechanical methods prevail at some enterprises, invisible chemists work at others - microorganisms and enzymes. They are used at such enterprises which are based on fermentation: bread-baking, production of beer, vinegar, wine.
The food industry produces such foods that look and taste like meat but are made from soyabean proteins. If soyabean proteins are dissolved in alkali they form a sticky liquid. This liquid may be extruded through tiny holes and then recoagulated in an acid bath in the form of fibers. The fibers then can be spun into ropes with texture approaching the fibrous texture of chicken or beef muscle tissue. The fabricated tissue then can be interlaced with fats, food flavouring and food colours. Products are almost indistinguishable from chicken meat, fish, ham or beef. The products also may be dehydrated, compressed or otherwise processed.