A novel food processing system for dividing a flow of food items into a plurality of streams, gently and quickly transporting the food items along a flume of fluid propelled by eductors to several slicers, transversely slicing the food items at a controlled rate to maximize yield, washing the slices, transporting the slices and controllably distributing the slices onto a conveyor for further processing. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the food processing system comprises an oversized-product separator, a segmented cutter, a mass-flow/spreading conveyor, a diverter stage, an eductor stage, a dewatering stage, a starch removal stage, a slicer infeed conveyor, at least one transverse slicer, and a slice spreader. In a preferred embodiment, cutting losses are decreased by minimizing slicing speeds.