ABSTRACT
Food processing is a fundamental activity of modern humans which was, along with tool making and communication skills, one of the prerequisites for the unprecedented geographical spread and adaptation to almost every environmental niche on earth by the human race. Common food processing techniques include mechanical (peeling, chopping, mixing), thermal treatment (steaming, boiling, roasting), addition of preservatives (pickling, fermentation), as well as dehydration. Historically, the major bene cial outcomes of food processing were preservation, decontamination, and increase in nutritional value. Current views on the signi cance of changes in human diets that were determined by the invention of food processing for evolution of modern man include population health issues, among others (Wrangham and Conklin-Brittain, 2003; Cordain et al., 2005).
