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The oesophagus, gullet or food pipe is a tube that carries food from your mouth to your stomach. It passes from the throat, through the chest to the stomach. It lies between the windpipe and the spinal cord. The pipe is about 30 cm or 12 inches long in an adult.
Glands in the wall of the oesophagus produce mucus, which keeps this passageway moist. This makes swallowing easier and helps food travel down towards the stomach.
The layers of muscle in the wall of the oesophagus contract when we swallow, and help push the food towards the valve at the top of the stomach. There is a ring of muscle at the bottom, called the lower oesophageal sphincter or cardiac sphincter. This stops food and liquids returning to the oesophagus from the stomach.
