Food couldn't reach the stomach without the blank and the blank

Food could not reach the stomach without the "esophagus and the throat".

Explanation:

Esophagus is like an elastic pipe, about 25 cm in length. It passes food from the throat back towards the stomach. There's the trachea at the back of the mouth which enables air to come in and out of the body. Once food in the form of a small ball of mushed-up food or liquids is ingested, the epiglottis slips down the opening of the windpipe to ensure that the food reaches the esophagus and not the windpipe.