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Food Preparation & NutritionQ&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every England Food Preparation & Nutrition syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
Area 6: Cooking and food preparation
- Bacterial contamination and food safety: the main food-poisoning bacteria, sources and symptoms, cross-contamination, the conditions bacteria need, the key temperatures, and safe buying, storing, preparing, cooking and serving of food.3Q&A pairs
- Cooking and preparation skills: knife skills and preparation techniques, water-based, dry and fat-based cooking methods, how cooking affects nutrients, and choosing the right method and equipment for a dish.2Q&A pairs
- Food choice, sensory evaluation and labelling: the factors that affect food choice, sensory testing methods, food labelling law and nutrition information, and how marketing and packaging influence what we buy.2Q&A pairs
- Food spoilage and preservation: the signs and causes of spoilage (micro-organisms, enzymes, moisture, warmth), date marks, and how preservation methods such as chilling, freezing, drying, canning, vacuum packing and using acid, salt or sugar extend shelf life.2Q&A pairs
- Micro-organisms and food production: the useful roles of bacteria, yeast and mould in making bread, yoghurt, cheese and other foods, fermentation, and the action of enzymes in food (ripening and enzymic browning).2Q&A pairs
- The non-exam assessment: Assessment 1 the Food Investigation (15%) using fair-test experiments and a written report, and Assessment 2 the Food Preparation Assessment (35%) planning, preparing, cooking and presenting three dishes, and how each is structured and marked.2Q&A pairs
Area 3: Diet and good health
- Diet-related health: obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, tooth decay, bone health (osteoporosis), iron-deficiency anaemia and bowel health, their links to diet, and the dietary changes that reduce the risk.2Q&A pairs
- Current healthy-eating guidance: the Eatwell Guide proportions, the eight tips for healthy eating, government dietary advice (reducing saturated fat, sugar and salt, increasing fibre, fruit and vegetables) and how to plan a balanced diet.2Q&A pairs
- Nutritional needs through the life stages: babies and young children, teenagers, adults, older adults and pregnant women, the key nutrients each needs and why, and how to plan suitable meals.2Q&A pairs
- Special diets and dietary needs: vegetarian and vegan diets, religious and cultural diets, and medical needs including coeliac disease, lactose intolerance, nut and other allergies and diabetes, and how to adapt recipes to meet them.2Q&A pairs
Area 1: Food commodities
- Cereals as a commodity group: wheat, rice, oats, maize and the products made from them (bread, flour, pasta), their nutritional value, working characteristics, and how they are grown, processed and stored.2Q&A pairs
- Fruit and vegetables as a commodity group: their classification, nutritional value (vitamins, minerals, fibre), enzymic browning, how to minimise vitamin loss in preparation and cooking, and how they are stored.2Q&A pairs
- Meat, fish and eggs as a commodity group: their nutritional value, types and cuts, working characteristics (coagulation, tenderising, the structure of an egg), and the food safety rules for handling these high-risk foods.2Q&A pairs
- Milk, cheese and yoghurt as a commodity group: their nutritional value, types and how they are produced (pasteurisation, cheese-making, fermentation), their working characteristics, and how they are stored safely.2Q&A pairs
- Soya, tofu, beans, nuts and seeds, and the fats and sugars group (butter, oils, margarine, sugar, syrup): their nutritional value, as alternative proteins for plant-based diets, their working characteristics, and how they are used and stored.2Q&A pairs
Area 5: Where food comes from
- Food and the environment: food miles and carbon footprint, packaging and its disposal, food waste and the 3 Rs, the environmental cost of food production, and how the consumer can make more sustainable choices.2Q&A pairs
- Food processing and production: primary and secondary processing, how foods such as wheat, milk and oil are processed, fortification and additives, genetic modification, and the effect of processing on nutrition and shelf life.3Q&A pairs
- Food provenance and production: where and how food is grown, reared and caught, intensive and organic farming, free-range and sustainable fishing, seasonality, local and imported food, fair trade and the journey from farm to fork.2Q&A pairs
- Food security and sustainability: what food security means, the factors that threaten the food supply, food poverty and food banks, sustainable food production and fishing, and global food issues.2Q&A pairs
Area 2: Principles of nutrition
- Energy needs: sources of energy from food, basal metabolic rate (BMR) and physical activity level (PAL), how requirements vary with age, sex and activity, energy balance, and the proportion of energy from each macronutrient.2Q&A pairs
- Protein, fats and carbohydrates: their composition, functions, sources, biological and complementary value of protein, saturated and unsaturated fats, simple and complex carbohydrates, and the effects of excess or deficiency.2Q&A pairs
- Micronutrients: the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and water-soluble vitamins (B group and C), and the key minerals (calcium, iron, sodium, fluoride, phosphorus, iodine): their functions, sources and the effects of deficiency.2Q&A pairs
- The functions of water and the signs of dehydration, and the role of dietary fibre (NSP) in healthy digestion, with sources and recommended intakes.2Q&A pairs
Area 4: The science of food
- The functional and chemical properties of carbohydrate: gelatinisation of starch, dextrinisation, caramelisation and the use of sugar and starch in cooking, with the conditions that cause each and food examples.2Q&A pairs
- The functional and chemical properties of protein: denaturation, coagulation, foam formation (aeration of egg) and gluten formation, with food examples and the conditions that cause each.2Q&A pairs
- The functional properties of fats and oils: shortening, aeration and plasticity, and emulsification, with the conditions that cause each, the role of emulsifiers such as egg yolk lecithin, and food examples.2Q&A pairs
- Raising agents: chemical (baking powder, bicarbonate of soda), biological (yeast), mechanical (whisking, creaming, sieving, lamination) and steam, the gas each produces and how it makes a mixture rise, with food examples.2Q&A pairs
- Why food is cooked (safety, digestibility, palatability, variety and shelf life) and the three methods of heat transfer into food: conduction, convection and radiation, each linked to cooking methods.2Q&A pairs