Food Safety Is No Mystery

Written for graduate students or college seniors, Food Safety: Theory and Practice emphasizes a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to food safety. It covers important topics related to the prevention of foodborne illnesses and diseases with a “farm-to-fork” perspective. Each chapter starts with a set of learning objectives for the student and ends with a list of important references and websites for further study and research. Scientific principles that underpin food safety are introduced, and terminology is explained to facilitate comprehension by the student. In keeping with current trends, risk analysis and food safety management are stressed throughout the textbook. The writing style is concise and to the point, and the book contains hundreds of references, figures, and tables. Extremely well organized, this book can serve as the primary text for a food safety course, or it can serve as a background text for more specialized courses in food safety. Key topics include: Risk and hazard analysis of goods - covers risk assessment and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) evaluations of food safety. Safety management of the food supply - provides a farm-to-fork overview of food safety, emphasizing the risks associated with each step in the food supply. Food safety laws, regulations, enforcement, and responsibilities - describes the major provisions, relationship, and hierarchy of laws and guidelines designed to ensure a safe food supply. The pivotal role of food sanitation/safety inspectors - including the interpretation of standards, problem solving and decision making, education of the food handling staff, and participation in foodborne illness outbreak investigations.

Abstract: This hearing discusses the effectiveness of current U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) food inspection programs. Current inspection procedures rely on "Organoplectic" methods (i.e. sight, smell and touch), which are not able to detect the presence of a number of pathogenic microorganisms and chemical residues in meat and poultry that most commonly cause human illness. The need for more effective food inspection is considered. Representatives of private industry, universities, USDA, and others present testimony.

Food Safety and Toxicity examines the many problems and changes in food safety and toxicity. From a natural science viewpoint, this informative book takes on challenging and important topics impacting food researchers, regulators, producers, healthcare providers, educators, and consumers. It is organized into three main sections. Section 1 explores the relationship between the origin or formation of potentially toxic compounds and their eventual ingestion. Section 2 picks up with information on the potential consequences of this ingestion, and Section 3 concludes with the discussion of prevention and minimization of health risks. By emphasizing food safety, rather than nutritional toxicology, this book puts food hazards and their health risks in true perspective. It also explores the complementary roles of toxicology and epidemiology in studying associations between nutrition and adverse health effects and in assessing toxicological risks from food components in a deliberate manner. Food Safety and Toxicity, with clear, non-technical language and valuable insight, brings you up-to-date on the significant food safety issues confronting us today.