Have you ever wondered how your food is processed before it reaches your plate? Find out with this online course.

- Duration4 weeks
- Weekly study3 hours
How Food is Made. Understanding Food Processing Technologies
This course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles. Find out more.
Learn more about processing technologies and the foods that are affected
Please note this course runs without facilitation
Food processing isn’t a new concept, however, many people might not understand how and why it happens. On this course, you will improve your knowledge of food processing technologies and build confidence in the processed foods on the market.
You will cover the history of food processing, from its origins to current modern industrial processes. You will explore the advantages and disadvantages of food processing technologies and understand their impact on health, safety, quality, and sustainability. Upon competing this course, you will feel empowered to make more informed decisions about the food you eat.
(Please note that the term ‘food processing’ is also often used to describe the formulation of food products and the addition of extra ingredients such as preservatives, stabilizers, fortifiers and flavourings. This course focuses on the technologies rather than the formulation.)
Syllabus
Week 1
Why do we process food?
Welcome
Find out about what you will be learning, who will be guiding you and how the course is taught.
What is food processing?
Surface our presumptions about trustworthy food.
Why do we process food?
The complexity of the food system
Reflections
Reflect on your fears or concerns about food processing.
Week 2
How do we process food?
Welcome to Week 2
Reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of food processing.
Homogenisation, Pasteurisation, Canning
Here we introduce you to a range of food processing techniques widely used in industry, and the products they create.
Drying and smoking
Learn about more techniques including spray-drying, freeze-drying and smoking foods for flavour.
Reflections
Keeping food tastier for longer. Reflect on whether your attitudes to food processing have changed.
Week 3
How is the food industry innovating?
Welcome to Week 3
Why do we need innovation in food processing?
Innovative techniques
PEF, HPP and irradiation
Packaging
Storage problems and how technology is helping
Reflections
New ways of keeping food tastier for longer. Reflect on whether your attitudes to technological advances in food processing have changed.
Week 4
How does the EU ensure our food is safe, nutritious and sustainable?
Welcome to Week 4
How food industry regulation is reported in the media
How and why regulations are made
EU food law and case study. Novel foods
What do UK consumers think about food processing?
EUFIC UK Consumer Survey - how it was carried out and why
Do we need food processing?
Summing up and what next?
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Explore the principles of food processing and gain an understanding of both traditional and modern industrial techniques
- Justify the importance of food processing to society in terms of health, safety, quality and sustainability
- Engage with the debate on how beneficial certain processing techniques are to human health
- Evaluate EU law and regulations
- Reflect on the challenges of feeding growing populations safely and sustainably
Who is the course for?
This course is for anyone interested in learning more about the food they eat.
The Educator team won’t be available to answer questions or respond to your comments during this course. However, we encourage you to interact and support each other by posting your thoughts and comments and sharing your knowledge with other learners
Who will you learn with?
I am a reserach associate at DIL e.V. focusing my work on alternative processing technologies and their effect on the stability and bioaccessibility of naturally present health-beneficial components.
I am Professor of Food Science at the University of Reading and contribute to FutureLearn as an educator.
I am a manager at EUFIC. I am involved in a wide variety of research projects examining consumer insights and behaviour on topics related to food, nutrition, food technology and sustainability.
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps, but you can complete them as quickly or slowly as you like
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn
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Join this course
Free
Join free and you will get:
- Access to this course for 6 weeks
Upgrade
Upgrade this course and you will get:
- Access to this course for as long as it’s on FutureLearn
- A print and digital Certificate of Achievement once you’re eligible
Unlimited
Buy Unlimited and you will get:
- Access to this course, and hundreds of other FutureLearn short courses and tests for a year
- A printable digital Certificate of Achievement on all short courses once you’re eligible
- The freedom to keep access to any course you've achieved a digital Certificate of Achievement on, for as long as the course exists on FutureLearn
- The flexibility to complete your choice of short courses in your own time within the year
Find out more about upgrades or Unlimited.
Available until 19 April 2021 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.
Get a taste of this course
Find out what this course is like by previewing some of the course steps before you join:
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