Philippe RENARD

Issue / Industrial Food

More and more industrial foods — edible products from the agribusiness industry — are finding a place on the shelves and freezers of restaurants and most homes. Whether heat-and-serve dishes, powdered soups or dehydrated omelettes, these foods have, for the most part, been subjected to various processing steps to prolong their shelf life and allow rapid and effortless preparation.

Although industrial foods were originally seen as time-saving products that reduced meal-preparation time, too often they also contained considerable amounts of salt and additives. Faced with lists of ingredients with incomprehensible chemical-sounding names, it is difficult to know what we are eating and what long-term effects some of these substances may have on our health.