Food Matters Summary
Making the right choices about food and farming can help to make the food chain more
sustainable. Governments try to protect consumers by regulating the food chain. The
decisions they make need to use scientific information so that judgements about risk are
based on evidence.
You should know:

All living this are made from chemicals.

There is continual cycling of elements in the environment.

The nitrogen cycle is an example of a natural cycle.

Where crops are harvested elements, such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, are
lost from the soil.

Land become less fertile unless these elements are replaced.

Organic and intensive farmers use different methods to protect crops against pests and
crop diseases.

Farmers have to follow UK national standards if they want to claim that their products are
organic.
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Farming has an impact on the natural environment.

Some methods of farming are more sustainable than others.

Some natural chemicals in plants that we eat may be toxic if they are not cooked properly,
or they may cause allergies in some people.

Moulds that contaminate crops during storage (such as aflatoxin in nuts and cereals) may
add toxic chemicals to food.

Chemicals used in farming (such as pesticides and herbicides) may be in the products we
eat and be harmful.

Harmful chemicals may be produced during food processing and cooking.

Natural and synthetic chemicals may be added to food during processing, these include:

Food colours can be used to make processed food look more attractive.

Flavouring enhance the taste of food.

Artificial sweeteners help to reduce the amount of sugar in processed food and
drinks.

Emulsifiers and stabilizers help to mix together ingredients that would normally
separate, such as oil and water.

Preservatives help to keep food safe for longer by stopping the growth of harmful
microbes.

Antioxidants are added to foods containing fats or oils to stop them reacting with
oxygen in the air

Many chemicals in living things are natural polymers (including carbohydrates and
proteins).

Cellulose, starch and sugars are carbohydrates that are made up of three elements:

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Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Amino acids and proteins consist mainly of:
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Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen

Digestion breaks down natural polymers to smaller, soluble compounds, for example,
digestion breaks down starch to glucose, and proteins to amino acids.

These small molecules can be absorbed and transported in the blood.

Cells grow by building up amino acids from the blood into new proteins.

Excess amino acids are broken down in the liver to form urea, which is excreted by the
kidneys in urine.

High levels of sugar, common in some processed foods, are quickly absorbed into the
blood stream, causing rapid rise in the blood sugar level.

There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2.

Late-onset diabetes, also called type 2, is more likely to be triggered by poor diet, the risk
factors for diabetes are:

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Obesity
Genetics
Age

In type 2 diabetes the body no longer responds to its own insulin or does not make enough
insulin.

Type 2 diabetes can usually be controlled by exercise and a good balanced diet.

In type 1 diabetes the pancreas stops producing the hormone, insulin. Type 1 diabetes
starts suddenly in childhood when the immune system cells attack cells in the pancreas.

Type 1 diabetes can be controlled with insulin injections.
Science-based technology provides people with many things that they value, and which
enhance the quality of life. Some applications of science have unwanted affects on our
quality of life or on the environment.

For farming methods you should know:
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The groups affected, and the main costs and benefits of a decisions for each
group.
Know how science helps to find ways of using natural resources in a more
sustainable way.
That regulations and laws control scientific research and applications.
Explain why different decisions may be made in different social contexts.

New technologies and processed based on scientific advances sometimes introduce new
risks.

Some people are worried about the health affects arising from the use of some food
additives.

Scientific advisory committees carry out risk assessments to determine the safe levels of
chemicals in foods.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is an independent food safety watchdog set up by an
Act of Parliament to protect the public’s health and consumer interests in relation to food.

Additives with an E-number have passes a safety test and been approved for use in the
UK and the rest of the EU.

Food labelling can help consumers decide which products to buy.

People’s perception of the size of a risk is often very different from the actual measured
risk.

People tend to over-estimate the risk of unfamiliar things, such as chemicals with strange
names added to food compared to overeating and obesity, and also things whose effect is
invisible, like pesticide residues.