Not to be confused with Brownie bites calories packaging. Not to be confused with Meal, Ready-to-Eat. Bread, cheese, salted food and other prepared foods have been sold for thousands of years.

Other types of food were developed with improvements in food technology. Types of convenience foods can vary by country and geographic region. Convenience food is commercially prepared for ease of consumption. Throughout history, people have bought food from bakeries, creameries, butcher shops and other commercial processors to save time and effort. Canned food was developed in the 19th century, primarily for military use, and became more popular during World War I. The expansion of canning depended significantly upon the development of canneries for producing large quantities of cans very cheaply.

One of the earliest industrial-scale processed foods was meatpacking. Experience in World War II contributed to the development of frozen foods and the frozen food industry. As of the 2010s due to increased preference for fresh, “natural”, whole, and organic food and health concerns the acceptability of processed food to consumers in the United States was dropping and the reputation of major packaged food brands had been damaged. These products are often sold in portion-controlled, single-serving packaging designed for portability. Gristmills have produced flour for baking for thousands of years.