Food processing is any method used to turn fresh foods into food products. This can involve one or a combination of the following: washing, chopping, pasteurizing, freezing, fermenting, packaging and many more. Food processing also includes adding components to food, for example to extend shelf life, or adding vitamins and minerals to improve the nutritional quality of the food (fortification).

Food processing operations includes many methods that are used to add value to the raw food materials (including marine products, poultry and meat) which can be consumed by human beings or animals. Raw food materials are transformed into edible products processing and value addition. The operations involved in food processing are mainly classified into two groups, viz., primary processing and secondary processing.

Primary processing relates to conversion of raw agricultural produce, milk, meat and fish into a commodity that is fit for human consumption. It involves steps such as cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, etc. Secondary and tertiary processing industries usually deal with higher levels of processing where new or modified food products are manufactured.