Food Processing: An overview on links between safety, security, supply chains, and NOVA classification

The human diet changed continuously throughout the history of the humankind. Nevertheless, in the last 200 years the world experienced more important changes in diet and lifestyle. In an urbanized and industrialized world, people now spend more time out and, as a consequence, eating has begun to demand practicality. Nowadays, food can be accessed in food services, restaurants and supermarkets; it is no more cooked only at home by mothers or grandmothers, as in the past. With scientific and technological advancements, a huge diversity of food can be consumed days or months after being processed, but this expressive change in a relatively short amount of time has created a space of distrust in functions that stems from a lack of knowledge about the origin and history of food. Food is a complex field that involves emotions. People – including scholars – did not have enough time to assimilate the complex issues involving food, so its implications on health and moral values were neglected. Moreover, in times of high speed and overload of information, boosted by the absence of food system transparency, it is possible to find mistakes in food concepts even in the academic arena. This article aims, therefore, to reflect on the improvement provided by the food industry and FSTE knowledge on food safety and security, and demystifying some beliefs that involve food processing, additives, quality and sustainability, as well as asking for more dialogue, interaction and synergy among different food knowledge bases.