Food and Nutrition ESSAYS

You might have eaten some delicious apples of Kashmir, lichis of Dehradun, Langra and Dussehri mangoes of U.P. and oranges of Nagpur. Our country has in addition to the above a variety of fruits like apricots, grapes, pineapples, peaches, strawberries, plums, pears, guavas, papayas, banana, jack fruit and melons. Let us now see what fruits are. Fruits are the seed bearing parts of the plants consisting of edible tissue surrounding the seeds. The edible part is juicy, pulpy, fleshy, sweet or sweet-sour in taste. Most fruits have a ripened seed or seeds enclosed in them. Unlike vegetables most fruits can be eaten with minimum nutrient losses. Fruits are a great gift of nature to mankind. They are delicious, nutritious, ready-to eat foods. They have a nice flavour and texture. Fresh fruits have an attractive colour. Think, for example, about the colour of ripe yellow mangoes or rosy red apples. Children may sometimes be averse to milk and other nutritious foods. But they relish fruits ver...

We know about the various functions of food, food consumption and basic food groups. We have also learnt earlier how to choose the right kind of food and prepare it using a variety of methods to ensure retention of texture taste and nutrients. Are we, however, aware that we have to do a number of additional things before we really consume the food? We go to the market, select and buy proper food, and perhaps store it for some time before we cook and eat it. At each stage the chances of food getting contaminated is very high. Therefore, if we wish to derive the maximum benefit from the money spent on food, we must take precautions in handling, cooking and serving of food so that it is safe to eat. We shall now learn about what steps we can take to ensure that the food we eat is safe and free from infections. Food is an ideal medium through which infections can be transmitted. This can happen directly through the contaminated fruits, vegetables, milk and water or indirectly through conta...