Food Preparation and Nutrition key terms

A person's usual pattern of living, including work, travel, caring responsibilities and leisure activities.

Fitting suitable paper, such as baking parchment, against the inside of a tin to separate the food from the tin and help it release.

Food produced near the place where it is bought or eaten.

A protein that supplies too little of one or more essential amino acids to meet the body's needs on its own.

A nutrient needed in relatively large amounts in the diet. Protein, fat and carbohydrate are macronutrients.

Information that food businesses are legally required to provide on packaging or an attached label, with some requirements depending on the product.

A seasoned liquid used to flavour food and help keep it moist; suitable ingredients can also tenderise it.

Leaving food in contact with a marinade so that it develops flavour and may gain moisture or change texture before cooking.

The amount of matter in an ingredient, commonly measured in grams (g) or kilograms (kg). In recipes, this is usually called its weight.

The incorporation of air into a food mixture through physical actions such as whisking, beating or creaming.

The curved surface of a liquid in a container, used when reading its volume.

Passing milk through very fine filters to remove microorganisms.

A nutrient needed by the body in small amounts, such as a vitamin or mineral.

An organism too small to see individually without magnification. Bacteria, yeasts and moulds are types of microorganism.

An appliance that uses microwave radiation to heat food for cooking, reheating, defrosting or melting.

The grinding of cereal grains to produce flour, with cleaning and sifting used to remove impurities and separate material.

An inorganic nutrient needed in small amounts for functions such as building bones, carrying oxygen and controlling fluid balance.

An appliance that uses attachments to beat, whisk, combine or knead ingredients.

A food altered during production to change its characteristics, for example by adding plant sterols to a spread to help lower blood cholesterol.

A sugar consisting of one sugar unit. Examples include glucose, fructose and galactose.

Fat containing fatty acids with one carbon–carbon double bond. Olive oil and avocados are useful dietary sources.

A fungus that grows as thread-like filaments and can form visible furry patches on food.

Additional information supplied by a food business that is not legally required in that situation, such as a serving suggestion.

The processes by which the body obtains and uses nutrients from food for energy, growth, repair and health.

The calculation of the energy and nutrient content of a food, recipe, meal or diet using food composition data and the quantities consumed.

A computer program that combines food composition data with ingredient or food quantities to calculate energy and nutrient content.

Information showing a food's energy content and amounts of specified nutrients, normally expressed per 100 g or per 100 ml.