“Food” in German

Question

When I was looking for the German equivalent of "food" in my dictionary, I've noticed that both "Lebensmittel" and "Nahrung" have same meaning and I've learned "Essen" before.

While I was trying to find the difference via Google, not only it didn't solve the problem but also I found some other words like "Nahrungsmittel" and "Genussmittel" and "Speise" and "Futter" with the same meaning. Here, I just found that "Futter" is animal's food.

I'm confused, if there is any differences between these words and their usage! Why there are too many words for "Food"?!

Answer 1

Lebensmittel is the technical term. You would say "Ein Supermarkt verkauft Lebensmittel"; an official food inspector is called Lebensmittelkontrolleur.

Nahrung usually stands for nourishment or nutrition, not only referring to food, but also, for example, "Öl ist Nahrung für das Feuer" — "oil feeds the fire".

Essen is either the act of eating or the colloquial word for food. "Ich gehe etwas zum Essen einkaufen" ("I'm going to buy something to eat") or "Ich gehe Essen einkaufen".

An example of the difference between Lebensmittel and Essen: "Er warf die Lebensmittel weg" would refer to throwing away, for example, a full grocery bag or food from the cupboard, whereas "Er warf das Essen weg" would probably rather be getting rid of a prepared meal, or scraping off a plate.

Speise is a more antiquated word. It is normally used to refer to something special or formal. Nowadays it is usually found in compounds such as Speisekarte (a menu, as in the list of food available in a restaurant) or Speisesaal (a dining hall in a castle or a hotel).

Answer 2

Essen: if you are talking about the food of a particular meal in an ordinary setting.

Das Essen ist fertig. (Dinner/lunch is ready.)

Lebensmittel: refers to food as goods you can buy and sell, as in food production or food prices.

Die Lebensmittelpreise sind überdurchschnittlich stark angestiegen.

Speise: refers to a particular dish, as in my favourite dish. Can be used instead of Essen in a more formal or older context (e.g. Bible translation or poems).

• Meine Lieblingsspeise.
• Jesus hat Fisch und Brot bei der Speisung der Fünftausend vermehrt.

Nahrung and Nahrungsmittel: refers to food as satisfying your needs, compare nahrhaft, "nutritious".

Ernährung is food in the sense of nutrition or diet.

Gesunde Ernährung ist die Grundlage eines guten Teints.

Futter is used for animal food and can be used for food in informal or regional contexts.

Fressen is also used for animal's food.

Genußmittel refers to drug-like items that do not primarily satisfy hunger. Think chocolate, coffee, tobacco, etc.