Food is any substance normally eaten or drunk by living organisms. The term food also includes liquid drinks. Food is the main source of energy and of nutrition for animals, and is usually of animal or plant origin. The study of food is called food science. In English, the term food is often used metaphorically or figuratively, as in food for thought.
1 Legal definition
Western food law recognises four categories of object as food:
- any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans whether of nutritional value or not;
- waterDrinking water This article focuses on water as we experience it every day. The water (molecule) article describes water from a scientific and technical perspective. Water is an abundant substance on Earth. It exists in many forms, such as sea, rain, and and other drinks;
- chewing gumChewing gum is like confectionery, but it is made to be chewed, not swallowed. Unsweetened ( sugar free) chewing gum stimulates saliva production, and helps to clean the surface of the teeth (even sugary gum may be helpful, since the sugar dissolves out v;
- articles and substances used as an ingredientAn ingredient is one of the things that goes into a mixture when something is made, especially in cooking or in following a formula. or componentIn general, a thing's components are its parts; the things that compose it. In telecommunication and computing, a component is an assembly, or part thereof, that is essential to the operation of some larger assembly and is an immediate subdivision of the in the preparation of food.
Links to official legal definitions of food:
2 Human eating habits
2.1 Historical development
HumanHuman beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. Biologically, they are classified as Homo sapiens ( Latin for knowing man , a primate species of mammal with a highly developed brain. In spirituas are omnivorousOmnivores are organisms that consume on both plants and animals. At one time the word omnivore was used to designate the pig family. Examples: Mammals many pigs many bears many primates (including humans) domestic dogs some rodents, including mice, rats, animals that can consume both plant and animal products. We changed from gatherers to hunter gatherersIn anthropology, a the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. Consequently, hunter-gatherers are relatively mobile, and groups of hunter-gatherers have fluid boundaries and compos. After the experience of the ice ageFor the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie . For the band, see Ice Age (band . An ice age is a period of long-term downturn in the temperature of Earth's climate, resulting in an expansion of the polar ice caps and mountain glaciers (" glaciation"). Glaci it is probable that humans wanted to create some feeling of security by controlling what plants were growing and which animals were available. This led to agriculture, which has continually improved and altered the way in which food is obtained.
