Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Coprolith

    Mass of hard faeces in colon or rectum due to chronic constipation. A lump of hard faeces in the bowel. A mass of hard feces within the colon or rectum, due to chronic constipation. It may become calcified. A solid accumulation of stool within the bowel.  

  • Convenience foods

    Processed foods in which a considerable amount of the preparation has already been carried out by the manufacturer. Food in which one or more steps in preparation have been completed before the product is offered for retail sale. Examples include frozen vegetables, bake mixes, heat-and-serve foods as well as ready-to-eat foods.  

  • Contaminants

    Undesirable compounds found in foods, residues of agricultural chemicals (pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, fertilisers, etc.), through the manufacturing process or as a result of pollution. By definition, any unwanted or undesired organism, compound, or molecule present in a controlled environment. Unwanted presence of an entity in an otherwise clean or pure environment. A substance which contaminates…

  • Conjugated linolenic acid

    An isomer of linolenic acid in which the double bonds are conjugated, rather than methylene-interrupted.  

  • Complementation

    This term is used with respect to proteins when a relative deficiency of an amino acid in one is compensated by a relative surplus from another protein consumed at the same time. The protein quality is not the average of the separate values, but higher. In botany, restoration of normal function in an organism that…

  • Committee on medical aspects of food policy (COMA)

    Previous name for the permanent Advisory Committee to the UK Department of Health, now called the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN).  

  • Commercial farming

    Commercial farming

    Agricultural production primarily or exclusively for the market, in contrast to subsistence farming.  

  • Colostrum

    The milk produced during the first few days after parturition; it is a valuable source of antibodies for the newborn infant. Animal colostrum is sometimes known as beestings. Mother’s milk for the first few days after childbirth. A fluid rich in antibodies and low in fat, secreted by the mother’s breasts at the birth of…

  • Colostomy

    Colostomy

    Surgical creation of an artificial conduit (a stoma) on the abdominal wall for voiding of intestinal contents following surgical removal of much of the colon and /or rectum. Surgically created opening in a portion of the large intestine (colon), which is brought to the abdominal surface for the purpose of evacuating feces. May be temporary…

  • Colon

    Also known as the large intestine or bowel; it terminates at the rectum, where faeces are compacted and stored before voiding. That part of the large intestine that extends from the cecum to the rectum. The main part of the large intestine, running from the caecum at the end of the small intestine to the…