← England Food Preparation & Nutrition
England · OCRSyllabus
Food Preparation & Nutrition syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the England Food Preparation & Nutritionsyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.
Section D: Skill requirements
Module overview →- What practical food preparation skills must be mastered for GCSE Food?The Section D skill requirements: general skills, knife skills, preparing fruit and vegetables, use of equipment, cooking methods, prepare-combine-and-shape, sauces, tenderising and marinating, dough, raising agents and setting mixtures.9 min answer →
- How do you plan a dish or menu, manage your time and use mise en place?Planning and time management for practical work: writing a clear time plan, mise en place, ordering and dovetailing tasks, managing the cooker and equipment, contingency, and working safely and hygienically.8 min answer →
- How do you present food well and evaluate a finished dish?Presentation and evaluation of food: the principles of presenting dishes (portion, colour, garnish, height, balance), and how to evaluate a dish against the brief using sensory analysis, nutrition and suggested improvements.8 min answer →
- What is the Food Investigation Task, and how do you investigate the properties of ingredients?NEA 1, the Food Investigation Task: investigating the working characteristics and functional and chemical properties of ingredients through practical experiments, the structure of the 1500 to 2000 word report, and how it is marked.9 min answer →
- What is the Food Preparation Task, and how do you plan and cook three dishes in three hours?NEA 2, the Food Preparation Task: planning, preparing, cooking and presenting a menu of three dishes within three hours, the dovetailed time plan, the technical skills shown, and how it is marked.9 min answer →
Section B: Food (food provenance and food choice)
Module overview →- What makes a cuisine distinctive, and what are the features of British and international cuisines?Culinary traditions, British and international cuisines: the characteristic ingredients, cooking methods, equipment and presentation of different cuisines, and the factors that shape a cuisine.8 min answer →
- What influences the food choices people make?Factors affecting food choice: cost, availability, time, lifestyle, preferences, health, religion, culture, ethical and moral beliefs, and medical conditions and allergies.9 min answer →
- How does the food we eat affect the environment?Food and the environment: food miles and carbon footprint, the environmental impact of packaging, transport and food production, seasonal and local food, and the effects of food waste.9 min answer →
- What must a food label show, and how does marketing influence what we buy?Food labelling and marketing: the mandatory information required by law, allergen labelling, traffic-light and reference-intake nutrition labelling, date marks, and how marketing influences food choice.9 min answer →
- Where does food come from, and how is it grown, reared, caught and processed?Food provenance and production: where food comes from (grown, reared, caught), primary and secondary processing, intensive, organic and free-range farming, sustainable fishing, and the meaning of food miles and seasonality.9 min answer →
- How do we test and describe how food looks, smells, tastes and feels?Sensory evaluation: the senses used to judge food, sensory descriptors, the main sensory testing methods (preference, discrimination and ranking tests), and how to set up a fair, valid sensory test.8 min answer →
- What does sustainability of food mean, and why is food security important?Sustainability of food and food security: sustainable food production, the 3 Rs of waste, food security and the factors that threaten it, food poverty and food banks, and reducing and recycling food waste.9 min answer →
Section C: Cooking and food preparation (food safety)
Module overview →- How does food become contaminated with harmful bacteria, and which bacteria cause food poisoning?Bacterial contamination and the main food-poisoning bacteria (salmonella, E. coli, campylobacter, listeria, staphylococcus aureus), the sources and symptoms, and cross-contamination and how to prevent it.9 min answer →
- How should food be bought and stored to keep it safe and fresh?Buying and storing food safely: checking food on purchase, the safe fridge and freezer temperatures, stock rotation, correct storage of different foods, and safe freezing and defrosting.9 min answer →
- What are microorganisms and enzymes, and how do they cause food to spoil or be useful?Microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts and moulds) and enzymes: the conditions they need to grow, how they spoil food, and how some are used helpfully in food production.9 min answer →
- How do you prepare, cook, cool and serve food safely?Preparing, cooking and serving food safely: personal and kitchen hygiene, the 4 Cs, the key safety temperatures, cooking thoroughly, cooling and reheating, and keeping hot and cold food at safe temperatures.9 min answer →
- How can you tell that food has spoiled, and what do date labels mean?The signs of food spoilage (changes in smell, taste, texture, colour and the appearance of mould), the difference between use-by and best-before dates, and the meaning of high-risk foods.8 min answer →
Section C: Cooking and food preparation
Module overview →- What are the main cooking methods, and how do we choose between them?The water-based, fat-based and dry cooking methods, how each affects nutrients, flavour and texture, and how to select an appropriate method for a given food and a healthy outcome.9 min answer →
- What roles do fats and oils play in cooking, and why do cut fruit and vegetables go brown?The functional and chemical properties of fats and oils (shortening, aeration, plasticity and emulsification) and of fruit and vegetables (enzymic browning and oxidation), with food examples and ways to control each.9 min answer →
- What happens to starch and sugar when food is heated?The functional and chemical properties of carbohydrate: gelatinisation of starch, dextrinisation and caramelisation, with the temperatures, conditions and food examples for each.8 min answer →
- What happens to proteins when food is whisked, heated or mixed with water?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.9 min answer →
- How is a gas introduced to make baked products rise?Raising agents and how they make products rise: biological (yeast), chemical (bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, self-raising flour) and mechanical (trapped air and steam), with the gas produced and food examples.8 min answer →
- Why do we cook food, and how does heat travel into it?The reasons food is cooked (safety, digestibility, palatability, variety and shelf life) and the three methods of heat transfer into food: conduction, convection and radiation.9 min answer →
Section A: Nutrition
Module overview →- Which health problems are linked to diet, and how can the diet be changed to prevent them?Diet-related health problems: obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, tooth decay, bone health (rickets and osteoporosis), anaemia and the effects of too much salt, sugar and saturated fat, and dietary changes to reduce the risk.10 min answer →
- How much energy does the body need, and how do we calculate it from BMR and activity?Energy needs: the sources of energy from food, basal metabolic rate (BMR) and physical activity level (PAL), how energy requirements vary with age, sex and activity, energy balance, and the proportion of energy that should come from each macronutrient.10 min answer →
- What are the macronutrients, what do they do in the body and where do we get them?Protein, fats and oils and carbohydrates: their composition, functions, sources, biological and complementary value, saturated and unsaturated fats, simple and complex carbohydrates, and the effects of excess or deficiency.10 min answer →
- What are the vitamins and minerals the body needs, and what happens without them?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 and iodine): their functions, sources and the effects of deficiency.10 min answer →
- How do nutritional needs change across life and for different groups of people?How nutritional needs change for specific groups: babies and young children, teenagers, adults, the elderly, pregnant women and people with specific dietary needs, and how to plan balanced meals using the Eatwell Guide and the 8 tips for healthy eating.10 min answer →
- Why does the body need water and dietary fibre, and what happens without them?Water and dietary fibre (NSP): their functions in the body, sources, recommended intakes and the effects of having too little, including dehydration and the role of fibre in digestive health.8 min answer →