Which of the following processes is concerned with the intake of food?

The intake of food refers specifically to the process of ingestion. During ingestion, food is taken into the mouth, where it begins its journey through the digestive system. This process is vital as it marks the initial step in nourishing the body with the nutrients found in food.

In contrast, absorption occurs later in the digestive process, where the nutrients from digested food are taken up into the bloodstream from the intestines. Defecation is the elimination of waste materials from the body, and digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller components, but neither of these processes involves the actual intake of food itself. Therefore, the process that directly relates to taking food into the body is ingestion.