The contents of this book are the proceedings of the ACS symposium, "Impact of Processing on Food Safety," which was held April 16-17, 1997, at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Francisco, CA. This symposium brought together re searchers from diverse backgrounds in academia, government, and industry. Twenty speakers discussed topics ranging from the regulatory aspects of food processing to the microbiological and chemical changes in food during processing. The main goal of food processing is to improve the microbial safety of food by de stroying pathogenic and spoilage organisms. Food processing can also improve food safety by destroying or eliminating naturally occurring toxins, chemical contaminants, and antinutritive factors. Unfortunately, processing can also cause chemical changes that result in the formation of toxic or antinutritive factors. The purpose of this book is to summarize our knowledge of both the beneficial and deleterious effects of processing. Chapter I con siders the consumer's perceptions about food contaminants and food processing. Chapter 2 summarizes the effects of traditional and nontraditional processing methods on microor ganisms in food. Chapters 3-6 review the effects of processing on lipids (fatty acids and cholesterol) in food. Changes in the nutritive value of vitamins and minerals as a result of processing are discussed in chapter 7. Chapter 8 concentrates on how processing reduces the allergenicity of some foods."

The Portfolio Diet for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction: An Evidence Based Approach to Lower Cholesterol through Plant Food Consumption examines the science of this recommended dietary approach to reduce cholesterol in addition to other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. With a thorough examination into the scientific rationale for the use of this diet, discussions are included on the experimental findings both for the diet as a whole, and its four principle food components: nuts and seeds, plant based protein, viscous fibers, and plant-sterol-enriched foods. Environmental and ethical considerations of the diet are also discussed, showing the ramifications of food choice on health and beyond. Referenced with data from the latest relevant publications and enhanced with practical details (including tips, dishes, and menus), the reader is enabled to meet the goals of cholesterol lowering and cardiovascular disease risk reduction while also taking the health of the planet into consideration.

Focused on the discovery of precise molecular targets for the development of the cancer preventive agents, "Cancer Prevention: Dietary Factors and Pharmacology" provides researchers and non-researchers with practical methodologies for developing and validating small molecule and phytochemical-derived drug discovery and mechanisms by which these compounds can modulate distinct target proteins involved in oncogenic signaling. While this volume is primarily focused toward cancer prevention research, the range of techniques demonstrated in the book also provides an introduction of cancer prevention research methods to researchers outside the field. Chapters deal with a critical discussion of both laboratory and clinical topics, with each chapter containing both a discursive section along with a detailed methods section. As part of the "Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology" series, this meticulous volume includes the kind of key implementation advice that seeks to ensure successful results in the lab.

Practical and authoritative, "Cancer Prevention: Dietary Factors and Pharmacology" aims to guide research toward identifying molecular targets and conducting human studies with phytochemicals which would, ideally, provide an enhanced approach to the goal of personalized cancer prevention.

"Panic in the Pantry" was written to help consumers become fully aware of the real facts behind news about the safety of our food supply. Whelan and Stare examine the power wielded by health food lobbyists who band together and exert political pressure to protect their profitable ventures. They discuss the concept of "relative risk" and why it should be used to place information about food additives and preservatives into proper perspective, as well as why the Delaney Clause - a law intended to protect us from cancer causing chemicals in our food - cannot fulfil the noble purpose for which it was drafted and therefore should be repealed. Also examined is the research behind the banning of cyclomates and the attacks on saccharin and aspartame that left many Americans wondering whether they are doomed to be chubby or develop cancer.A lengthy discussion of California's Proposition 65 provides insight into the chaos that can result when fearmongers are able to secure legislation based on panic about food supply. The authors also address the flight to "natural" products, which may lead to serious health problems as well as added consumer expense. The contemporary back-to-nature mania is rejected as a hoax perpetuated by opportunists intent on taking advantage of frightened and impressionable consumers.

Copper has long been known as essential to living systems, in part through its fundamental role in electron transport and respiration. Over the years into the present, its involvement in an ever increasing number of processes in all kinds of organisms has become apparent, and new and exciting vistas of its roles in such areas as the central nervous system, and in humoral functions, are appearing on the horizon. Although the biochemistry of this element has not been studied nearly as much as that of many others, a for midable amount of work has been carried out. It has thus been a challenge to produce a summary of what has been found that provides both breadth and depth. My goal has been to try to be as comprehensive as possible, within some limitations. I have tried to provide basic information and basic data that should continue to be useful for a long time. The goal has also been to interpret where we currently stand in our knowledge of the structure, function, regulation, and metabolism of Cu-dependent processes and sub stances, especially proteins. Thus, I have tried to make this a source book for historic as well as current information on all aspects of copper bio chemistry, and a summary of our current knowledge of copper-dependent proteins and processes. Most of the research on copper has been carried out on vertebrates, especially mammals. This has played a role in the organization of the book."

This is the first volume in a 2-volume compendium that is the go-to source for both research- and practice-oriented information on the importance of branched chain amino acids in maintaining the nutritional status and overall health of individuals, especially those with certain disease conditions. Over 150 well recognized and respected contributors have come together to compile these up-to-date and well-referenced works. The volumes will serve the reader as the benchmarks in this complex area of interrelationships between dietary protein intakes and individual amino acid supplementation, the unique role of the branched chain amino acids in the synthesis of brain neurotransmitters, collagen formation, insulin and glucose modulation and the functioning of all organ systems that are involved in the maintenance of the body's metabolic integrity. Moreover, the physiological, genetic and pathological interactions between plasma levels of branched chain amino acids and aromatic amino acids are clearly delineated so that students as well as practitioners can better understand the complexities of these interactions. Branched Chain Amino Acids in Clinical Nutrition: Volume 1 covers basic processes at the cellular level, inherited defects in branched chain amino acid metabolism, and experimental models of growth and disease states.

Probiotics: Advanced Food and Health Applications presents the functional properties and advanced technological aspects of probiotics for food formulation, nutrition, and health implications. Specifically, the book addresses the fundamentals of probiotics, from their discovery to actual developments, the microbiological aspects of the main genus showing probiotic properties, the natural occurrence of probiotic strains in foods, the development of nutraceuticals based on probiotics, and the relationship of probiotics to health. The book also includes a discussion on regulatory aspects. This book is an excellent resource for food scientists, nutritionists, dieticians, pharmaceutical scientists, and others working with probiotics or studying related fields.

Amazonian Dark Earths are not only a testament to the vanished civilizations of the Amazon Basin, but may provide the answer to how the large, sophisticated societies were able to sustain intensive agriculture in an environment with mostly infertile soils. Locally known as Terra Preta de Indio or Indian black earth, these anomalous soils are even today fertile and highly productive. Though clearly associated with pre-European settlements questions remain whether the Dark Earths were intentionally produced or merely a by-product of habitation activities. This publication provides a comprehensive review of our current understanding of these fascinating soils: their origin, properties, and management through time. These new and multidisciplinary perspectives by leading experts on Amazonian Dark Earths may pave the way for the next revolution of soil management in the humid tropics.

Food Security, Poverty and Nutrition Policy Analysis: Statistical Methods and Applications, Third Edition combines statistical data analysis and computer literacy, applying the results to develop policy alternatives through a series of statistical methods for real world food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty problems. The book presents the latest uses of statistical methods for policy analysis using the open source statistical environment R, in addition to having the original Stata files and applications. A new chapter on obesity brings in new datasets for analysis to effectively demonstrate the use of such data for addressing policy issues. Finally, program evaluation methods which can be directly applied to the data on food security, nutrition, poverty indicators and causal factors are included. This unique, real-world data takes the reader through a "hands-on" approach toward econometric practice whereby they can also test the effects of policy and program interventions. Further, this is the first book to explore actual data with STATA and R statistical packages that also provides a line-by-line guide to the programming and interpretation of results.