ABSTRACTThere is a need for deeper qualitative and quantitative understanding of the heat and mass transfer mechanisms underlying various techniques for food production, processing, preservation and storage. This is important for the development of new food sources, for more economical and energy‐efficient processing of food from existing sources, for better food quality and quality control, and for adherence to new regulations such as nutritional labeling and shelf‐life dating.Several classes of food‐processing problems are presented where advances can be made on the basis of improved understanding of heat and mass transfer mechanisms. These include cases of competing transport, cases where transport competes with kinetics of chemical or biochemical reactions, and cases where determination and understanding of the rate‐determining factor are needed. Specific examples are drawn from drying processes, leaching and extraction, freezing, sterilization and enzyme deactivation, and artificial cult