ABSTRACT
The food processing industry in the United States often appears to be taken for granted—a feature of the economic landscape so unremarkable as to be nearly invisible. Most food processing technologies in place today are the result of modern scientific discoveries and decades, if not centuries, of technological refinement. Food processing has been traditionally closely linked to agriculture or domestic household activities. Designing strategies to meet consumer needs does not occur in a vacuum. Product development and manufacturing are of necessity, dependent on the availability of inputs and the means by which both the cost and quality of food processing inputs can be managed. Commercial food processing is the branch of manufacturing that starts with raw animal, vegetable, or marine materials and transforms them into intermediate foodstuffs or edible products through the application of labor, machinery, energy, and scientific knowledge.
