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, tanned 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 soybean proteins. If soybean 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.
Education of food processing specialists plays great role in the food industry. There are institutes training engineers and technicians. These educational institutions graduate engineers in such branches as bread making, cake and pasta manufacture, sugar and confectionary technology, beer brewing and wine making, the technology of fats, oils and cosmetics, food biotechnology and storage, processing of grains, etc.
Practice 1. Re-read the text and answer the questions:
1. What products do modern food manufacturers produce?
2. What do the food enterprises use treating raw materials?
3. What meat products can be made using soybean proteins?
4. What is the main purpose of food processing institutes, colleges and departments?
Practice 2. Give the Russian equivalents to the word-combinations from the text:
-assortment of products
-dozens and hundreds of other items
-technological processes
-methods of treating raw materials
-food enterprises
-food flavouring
-food colours
-soybean proteins
-sticky liquid
-to spun into ropes
-mechanical methods
Practice 3. Match up the words on the left with the definitions on the right:
| a. a tiny organism that comprises either a single cell or cell clusters b. a class of materials that are in discrete elongated pieces c. to form or shape by forcing through an opening d. the plant which is classed as an oilseed, a species of legume native to East Asia e. a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. f. a scientist trained in the study of the composition of matter and its properties g. natural or chemical substances to improve the taste of food. h. the objects, basic units, products i. a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk |
Practice 4. Complete the sentences using the words from the table:
| indistinguishable prevail varied tissue fermentation |
1. The technological processes of treating raw materials are wide and ________.
2. Soybean products are ________ from meat or fish.
3. The process of bread-baking, production of beer, vinegar and wine is based on ______.
4. The fibers made of soybeans imitate the ______ of animals.
5. Historically mechanical methods ________ at food enterprises.
Practice 5. Complete the table:
| noun | verb | adjective |
| graduate | ||
| mechanical | ||
| train | ||
| education | ||
| fibrous |