1. Natural Sciences and Technology Grade 6
Term 1: Life and Living
Food Processing

2. How Foods are Processed
Topic 4 Food Processing
How Foods are Processed
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

3. Processed Foods Food can be Minimally processed Highly processed
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

4. Minimally Processed Foods
Very little sugar, salt and fat is added to this food.
This food moves quickly from the farm where it is harvested to the shop where it is sold.
Sometimes this food is washed, cleaned, shelled, chopped and packaged before being sold.
This food has a very short shelf-life.
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

5. Minimally Processed Foods
Examples:
Fresh meat
Fresh fish
Eggs
Milk
Bags of potatoes, apples, oranges, lemons
Fresh vegetables
Fresh fruit
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

6. Highly Processed Foods
This food is made so that it can have a long shelf-life
This is done through the addition of
preservatives,
colouring,
additives and
flavourings.
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

7. Highly Processed Foods
Examples:
snack foods and biscuits
cereal bars and breakfast cereals
chips
cakes and pastries
soft drinks
breads, pastas, and desserts.
processed meats in cans or packets
chicken nuggets
fish fingers
sausages
hamburgers.
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

8. Ways of processing food
cooking
pickling
fermenting
drying and salting
toasting
tinning / canning
bottling
freezing or refrigerating
making juice concentrates
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

9. Making Biltong (drying)
Biltong is made from meat, salt, vinegar and spices (coriander, cumin, etc.).
A piece of meat (beef or venison) is cut into strips and soaked in vinegar overnight.
The salt and spices are then rubbed on the meat and it is hung to dry.
The air must be dry and sometimes fans or a special biltong-making box is used.
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

10. Preservatives
Preservatives make food last longer and help prevent the food from growing bacteria.
These substances reduce the growth of microbes but must not be seen as an alternative to proper food hygiene and cooking.
There are healthy and unhealthy preservatives.
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

11. Examples of food preservatives
sorbic acid
benzoic acid
sulphur dioxide
potassium and sodium nitrate
propionic acid
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

12. Food additives
Some methods of preserving food also introduce additives into the process:
tartrazine – colour
MSG: monosodium glutamate – flavour enhancer
aspartame – artificial sweetener
sugar
salt (sodium chloride)
spices
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

13. Avoiding illness from food preparation
Keep the place where you make or prepare food clean.
Wash your hands before working with food.
Make sure food, especially when bought from a refrigerator, stays in a cold environment. (Some foods are especially sensitive to this.)
Do not change the temperature of foods too often e.g. heat, cool, reheat food.
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4

14. Read the fine print!
Always check the labels and packaging of food that you buy to check
the additives and preservatives they contain so that you can make an informed choice of what to eat and drink
the ‘best before’ and the ‘use before’ date so to make sure the food is good to eat.
Gr 6 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 1, Topic 4