Concept in Definition ABC

Those food that can be consumed without a risk for health they are known as edibles. Humans are omnivores, which means we don't have a feeding specialized, because we can eat all kinds of food, such as meat, fish, vegetables, legumes or fruits.

Hygiene measures for food consumption

For a food to be edible it is necessary that two circumstances occur: that it is compatible with human health and that it is in adequate sanitary conditions. In this sense, there are a series of measures to guarantee proper food hygiene: conservation of certain products to an adequate temperature, washing vegetables and fruit with plenty of water, pasteurizing dairy products, properly preserving perishable products, etc.

If hygiene measures are not applied correctly, the edible food can cease to be edible and become a danger to health.

It is not the same edible as edible

The terms edible and edible are sometimes used synonymously, but in reality they are not. Thus, all food that can be consumed without any risk to health is edible and everything that is not unpleasant is edible. Therefore, a food is edible but not necessarily edible for some people.

Diet has varied over time

Certain foods that are currently consumed normally, in the past were considered poisonous or harmful to health. Thus, tomato, tuna, garlic or chicken wings were products that used to be discarded by some reason (For example, garlic was despised for its smell and chicken wings because it was valued as a leftover part).

This rejection of certain foods was not due to their negative health properties, but to scientific ignorance about them.

We are omnivorous animals

The experts in nutrition argue that we are omnivores for several reasons:

1) we need minimum levels of protein and meat is one of the most suitable foods for it (vegetable proteins have fewer amino acids than animal proteins),

2) we need to consume vegetables for their vitamin intake,

3) Our physiological characteristics mean that we are neither herbivores nor pure carnivores, but we must eat all kinds of food.

Photos: Fotolia - ssstocker / didiaCC