A dramatic example of the effect of food processing on a population's health is the history of epidemics of beri-beri in people subsisting on polished rice. Removing the outer layer of rice by polishing it removes with it the essential vitamin thiamine, causing beri-beri. Another example is the development of scurvy among infants in the late 19th century in the United States. It turned out that the vast majority of sufferers were being fed milk that had been heat-treated (as suggested by Pasteur) to control bacterial disease. Pasteurisation was effective against bacteria, but it destroyed the vitamin C.
What did people who became ill with beri-beri have as their main food source? What vitamin is removed during the polishing of rice? Which disease became prevalent among infants in the United States as an effect of processed foods? What treatment did the milk that was fed to infants undergo to control bacterial disease? What was destroyed during the pasteurisation of the milk?