Food Commodity Groups

Five groups that make up our food

Almost every food you cook with belongs to one of FIVE commodity groups. Knowing which group a food is in is a shortcut: it tells you the main nutrition it brings, what it does in a dish, and how to keep it fresh. ⭐⭐ The five groups are: CARBOHYDRATE FOODS (starch, sugar and fibre, such as bread, pasta and rice); PROTEIN FOODS (eggs, fish, meat and plant-based alternatives); DAIRY AND ALTERNATIVES (milk, cheese, yoghurt and dairy-free versions); FATS AND OILS (butter and cooking oils); and FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. ⭐ Each group has a headline nutritional VALUE: carbohydrate foods and fats give energy, protein foods and dairy support growth and repair and bones, and fruits and vegetables provide vitamins, minerals and fibre. ⭐⭐ Each group also has typical FUNCTIONS in cooking and CHARACTERISTICS, and its own STORAGE needs: some are kept chilled, some frozen, some in a cool dry place. The group is a quick guide to all of this. This module is the groups and their overview. The deep science of nutrients, and diet and health, each have their own module. ⚠️ Carry one question the whole way through: which commodity group is this food in, and what does that tell me about its value, function and storage?

What each group is mainly for

The five groups sorted by the headline they bring to the plate. Read across.

Tap the two protein foods

Tap the TWO foods that belong to the PROTEIN foods commodity group.

• Eggs, used to bind and enrich many dishes.
• Beans and lentils, a plant-based source.
• Rice, a staple grain served with meals.
• Butter, spread on bread and used in baking.

Reading a food by its group

A cook needs a food that mainly supplies calcium and protein and is usually kept chilled. Which commodity group best fits?

• Dairy and alternatives, such as milk, cheese and yoghurt
• Carbohydrate foods, such as bread and pasta
• Fats and oils, such as butter and cooking oil
• Fruits and vegetables

The words the kitchen uses

Six terms this topic turns on. Learn them and a shopping basket reads clearly.

Pair each group with what it mainly brings

Two true things about the groups

Select the TWO statements that are true.

• Beans, lentils and other plant-based foods can belong to the protein foods group
• Fruits and vegetables are a good source of vitamins, minerals and fibre
• Carbohydrate foods are the main source of calcium for bones
• Fats and oils supply protein for growth

Answering a commodity question

Strong answers name the group and give its value, function or storage precisely. ⭐⭐ NAME THE GROUP AND ITS HEADLINE VALUE. Do not just say a food is healthy; say which group it is in and what it mainly supplies: dairy for calcium and protein, fruit and vegetables for vitamins, minerals and fibre. The precise value earns the mark. ⭐ REMEMBER PLANT-BASED PROTEIN. Protein foods are not only meat, fish and eggs; beans, lentils and other plant-based foods count too. Showing that lifts an answer and reflects real kitchens. ⭐⭐ LINK GROUP TO STORAGE AND FUNCTION. Say how a group is stored, chilled, frozen or in a cool dry place, and what it does in a dish. Connecting value, function and storage shows real understanding. DO NOT DRIFT INTO NUTRIENT SCIENCE OR DIET ADVICE. The detailed biology of nutrients, and diet and health across life stages, have their own modules; here, keep the focus on the groups and what each brings. ⚠️ A note on care. Describe foods by their function and value, never as good or bad, and give no dieting advice; storage is described in words such as chilled or frozen, not with a temperature figure. Keep the one question to hand: which group is this, and what does that tell me about its value, function and storage?

Order these by how soon they must be used

Put these foods in order by how quickly they usually need to be used, from the shortest keeping to the longest.

• Fresh fish, best used within a day or so
• Fresh meat, kept chilled for a few days
• Milk and soft dairy, kept chilled for up to a week or so
• Many fresh vegetables, lasting a week or two cool
• Dried or canned staples, keeping for many months

Build a point about a group

Assemble one sentence that describes a commodity group properly.

The commodity run

Five quick decisions about the commodity groups. Three lives.

A toolbox with labelled drawers

Leave food aside for a moment. Picture a well-organised toolbox, where everything is sorted into labelled drawers, each drawer holding tools that share one job. ⭐ One drawer holds the fixings: screws, nails and bolts, the things that join two pieces together. Another holds the cutting tools, another the measuring tools, another the ones for smoothing and finishing. Nothing is thrown in at random; each item lives with the others that do the same kind of work. ⭐⭐ The clever part is that the drawer TELLS you something. Reach into the measuring drawer and, whatever you pull out, you know it is for measuring. You can guess its purpose, how carefully to handle it, and where it belongs back, all from the group it is in. A good worker uses the labels: needing to join two boards, they go straight to the fixings drawer rather than hunting the whole box. The grouping is a shortcut to what each thing is for. ⚠️ Hold that picture. Foods are sorted the same way: put a food in its group and the group tells you what it mainly brings, what it does, and how to look after it.

Finish each commodity line

Bread, pasta and rice, which mainly supply energy through starch, belong to the _____ foods group. Eggs, fish, meat, beans and lentils belong to the _____ foods group. Milk, cheese and yoghurt, a source of calcium, belong to the _____ and alternatives group. Foods that mainly supply vitamins, minerals and fibre are the _____ and vegetables group. Butter and cooking oils, which supply concentrated energy, belong to the _____ and oils group.

Three baskets to sort

Three situations are described. For each, choose the reading the commodity groups best support.

• A learner says only meat, fish and eggs can count as protein foods.
• A cook wants the group that will mainly add vitamins, minerals and fibre, plus colour, to a plate.
• Someone puts fresh fish in a cupboard for next week and dried pasta in the fridge.

Explain the commodity groups

Explain the food commodity groups: name the five groups, give the main nutritional value of each, and explain how knowing a food group helps a cook with function and storage. Keep it factual, describing foods by their value rather than as good or bad.

• Name the five commodity groups
• Give the main nutritional value of at least three of them
• Explain that protein foods include plant-based alternatives
• Explain how the group helps with storage, such as chilled or dry
• Explain why knowing the group is a useful shortcut for a cook