The book demonstrates that food safety is a multidisciplinary scientific discipline that is specifically designed to prevent foodborne illness to consumers. It is generally assumed to be an axiom by both nonprofessionals and professionals alike, that the most developed countries, through their intricate and complex standards, formal trainings and inspections, are always capable of providing much safer food items and beverages to consumers as opposed to the lesser developed countries and regions of the world. Clearly, the available data regarding the morbidity and the mortality in different areas of the world confirms that in developing countries, the prevalence and the incidence of presumptive foodborne illness is much greater. However, other factors need to be taken into consideration in this overall picture: First of all, one of the key issues in developing countries appears to be the availability of safe drinking water, a key element in any food safety strategy. Second, the availability of healthcare facilities, care providers, and medicines in different parts of the world makes the consequences of foodborne illness much more important and life threatening in lesser developed countries than in most developed countries. It would be therefore ethnocentric and rather simplistic to state that the margin of improvement in food safety is only directly proportional to thelevel of development of the society or to the level of complexity of any given national or international standard. Besides standards and regulations, humans as a whole have evolved and adapted different strategies to provide and to ensure food and water safety according to their cultural and historical backgrounds. Our goal is to discuss and to compare these strategies in a cross-cultural and technical approach, according to the realities of different socio-economic, ethnical and social heritages.

This book explores food traceability in raw materials, additives and packing of the dairy sector and it provides an accessible and succinct overview of the new Extended Traceability (ExTra) software. In this work, the authors present several practical examples of extended food traceability for edible products and food-contact materials in the cheese-making industry. Readers will also discover a summary of the existing legal and regulatory requirements for food traceability in Europe. This book will appeal to a wide readership, from academic researchers to professionals and auditors in industry working in quality control, food and packing traceability, and international regulation.

This book discusses different aspects of contamination in Indian food products. Particular attention is given to the presence and analytical detection of detrimental substances such as pesticides, mycotoxins and other biologically-produced toxins, food chemicals and additives with natural or industrial origin. Furthermore, the book addresses the production and the commercial exploitation of native botanical ingredients, and the question if such ingredients should be regarded as foods or drugs. It also sheds light on chemical aspects of organic farming practices in India. Readers will also find information on pesticides and other detrimental chemicals detection in Indian farming. The authors present a useful opinion on how and why food contaminants can lead to border rejections during export, in particular to the European Union.

This book explores food traceability in raw materials, additives and packing of the dairy sector and it provides an accessible and succinct overview of the new Extended Traceability (ExTra) software. In this work, the authors present several practical examples of extended food traceability for edible products and food-contact materials in the cheese-making industry. Readers will also discover a summary of the existing legal and regulatory requirements for food traceability in Europe. This book will appeal to a wide readership, from academic researchers to professionals and auditors in industry working in quality control, food and packing traceability, and international regulation.

This book provides an overview of mitigation strategies and positive health effects of Maillard Reaction products in the contexts of food processing and storage. The effects of Maillard Reactions can vary considerably: while on the one hand certain sensorial alterations and influences on color, flavor and odor may be desirable, Maillard Reactions can also result in potentially harmful and toxic products (e.g. furfurals, furosines, or acrylamide). This book discusses possible mitigation strategies for the reduction of toxic reaction products, including the addition of enzymes or antioxidants, reducing sugars, and encapsulation approaches, as well as new processing strategies, such as high-pressure, radio-frequency, ultrahigh-temperature, or Ohmic heating methods. The book also illustrates that certain Maillard products can even produce positive health effects, e.g. antimicrobial or anticarcinogenic effects. The methods described here can serve as a blueprint for promoting the formation of beneficial compounds and reducing / avoiding toxic substances, offering essential strategies and methods.

The book demonstrates that food safety is a multidisciplinary scientific discipline that is specifically designed to prevent foodborne illness to consumers. It is generally assumed to be an axiom by both nonprofessionals and professionals alike, that the most developed countries, through their intricate and complex standards, formal trainings and inspections, are always capable of providing much safer food items and beverages to consumers as opposed to the lesser developed countries and regions of the world. Clearly, the available data regarding the morbidity and the mortality in different areas of the world confirms that in developing countries, the prevalence and the incidence of presumptive foodborne illness is much greater. However, other factors need to be taken into consideration in this overall picture: First of all, one of the key issues in developing countries appears to be the availability of safe drinking water, a key element in any food safety strategy. Second, the availability of healthcare facilities, care providers, and medicines in different parts of the world makes the consequences of foodborne illness much more important and life threatening in lesser developed countries than in most developed countries. It would be therefore ethnocentric and rather simplistic to state that the margin of improvement in food safety is only directly proportional to thelevel of development of the society or to the level of complexity of any given national or international standard. Besides standards and regulations, humans as a whole have evolved and adapted different strategies to provide and to ensure food and water safety according to their cultural and historical backgrounds. Our goal is to discuss and to compare these strategies in a cross-cultural and technical approach, according to the realities of different socio-economic, ethnical and social heritages.

This book discusses different aspects of contamination in Indian food products. Particular attention is given to the presence and analytical detection of detrimental substances such as pesticides, mycotoxins and other biologically-produced toxins, food chemicals and additives with natural or industrial origin. Furthermore, the book addresses the production and the commercial exploitation of native botanical ingredients, and the question if such ingredients should be regarded as foods or drugs. It also sheds light on chemical aspects of organic farming practices in India. Readers will also find information on pesticides and other detrimental chemicals detection in Indian farming. The authors present a useful opinion on how and why food contaminants can lead to border rejections during export, in particular to the European Union.

This Brief provides an overview of different analytical methods and techniques for the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of Maillard Reactions and their reaction products in foods during processing and storage. Reliable methodology for the investigation of Maillard Reactions and their products are of utmost importance in food analysis: since Maillard Reactions can on the one hand be desirable and advantageous, influencing the colors, flavors and odors of food products, they can on the other hand also produce detrimental compounds afflicting the consumers' health (e.g. furfurals, furosine, or acrylamide). This Brief introduces different analytical methods, which can be used to investigate and characterize Maillard Reactions and their products in foods, including for example capillary electrophoresis, high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection, UV-VIS spectrophotometry, fluorescence, electronic nose, gravimetric systems, and many more. The chapters exemplify how the analytical techniques can be applied for assessing and evaluating different Maillard Reaction products in foods. Readers will find basic information, as well as practical hints and guidelines for application in their own laboratory.

This brief outlines the state-of-art of the food industry within the Indian Sub-continent, providing a detailed insight into the current science of nutrition and industrial technology. The Hygiene, Integrity, Traceability and Sharing (HITS) strategy has been proposed recently as a coordinated and powerful tool to contextualize the plethora of different menaces for the food consumer. The book examines this approach from eight different perspectives, with a particular emphasis on the Indian Subcontinent. Topics such as food additives, the importance of water in the food industry, the use of antioxidants, and novel food preservation methods are used to illustrate these points of view. This book is particularly appealing as a guide for graduate and undergraduate courses covering food production, food safety, and the training of teachers working in these science areas.

This book outlines the evolution of food traceability matters in the current traditional foods market and particularly with regard to selected historical foods based in Jordan. At present, traceability is just one of the many requirements the food industry is forced to meet. The topic can be approached from various angles: regulation, technological perspectives, food business operators, packaging manufacturers, software producers, and consumer views. In addition, traceable food products provide an interesting legacy for many geographical and ethnic cultures. Consequently, the examination of certain recipes or food products linked with history and traditions can make a unique and valuable contribution to future developments in this area. In this regard, Jordanian foods offer a prime example. This book examines three traditional products from different viewpoints, paying special attention to their chemical composition, the identification of raw materials, preparation procedures, and traceability. The book begins with a more general discussion on food traceability without detailed regional implications, while the second chapter discusses the product hummus in its many versions. In turn, the third and fourth chapters focus on two fermented dairy products, labaneh and jameed, and their connections with the Mediterranean diet. The book offers a valuable reference guide to many traditional/historical products in the Middle East, with a particular focus on traceability matters and solutions.

This book focuses on the use of food gases in the food industry, their different applications and their role in food processing, packaging and transportation. Since these gases come into contact with food, they must comply with strict of labeling, purity and hygiene standards in order to ensure food safety. The book discusses various implications of food gases in the food chain, providing examples of how they can be used to limit food waste and losses. The first two chapters examine the classification and role of food gases in Europe, and the third chapter then explores the chemical and physical features of commonly used food gases in the food and food packing industries. The fourth chapter highlights the impact of food gases on human health due to their possible abuse and misuse. This book appeals to researchers and professionals working in food production and quality control.

This book describes the consequences of an increased demand for food for human consumption for the global food industry. In four concise chapters, the authors explore the trend for the overproduction of food, the concomitant diminution of raw materials and the increase in environmental concerns. Chapter one describes the variations in biochemical properties of fishmeal depending on the season and geographical location. Chapter two discusses how the expansion of cropland and pastures to meet the rising demand for food is damaging the environment, while chapter three examines the impact of bee viruses on food crops and production. Lastly, the fourth chapter addresses the issue of food adulteration and provides specific examples of fraud in the American dairy industry. This book is of interest to researchers working in the area of food production in academia and industry, as well as certification and scientific bodies involved in food inspection.

This brief addresses important aspects of food additives. Through four chapters, the authors describe the chemistry of food additives, the regulatory classification of additives on a large-scale, the risks involved in using chemicals for food preparation - including implications this has on food hygiene, and case-study examples taken from the dairy industry. More specifically, chapter one provides a list of the technological purposes of food additives defined for European use; chapter two explains the 'General Standards for Food Additives' (Codex Alimentarius Commission) which is a harmonised, workable and indisputable international standard; chapter three describes the use of selected food additives in the dairy sector, particularly with relation to the production of yoghurt products; and chapter four addresses the impact of additives on human health. This brief is of interest to researchers working in the area of food production and international regulation, both in academia and industry.

This Brief presents a chemical perspective on frozen vegetables, also known as "ready-to-use" foods. It elucidates the chemical properties and modifications of vegetables from harvest and treatment to the end of their long shelf-life. Particular attention is given to the microbiological colonization of vegetables during the freezing treatments and to the chemical and physical modifications associated. The authors explore the undesired effects of this colonization through the lens of the antibiotic-resistant Staphylococci found in hermetically-package frozen vegetables. With this informative and instructive Brief, readers will understand the importance of the frozen storage technologies.

This Brief explores the chemistry and production technology of a cheese precursor: the cow's milk curd. It explains how different coagulation and treatment methods can be used to obtain various types of cheeses. Parameters such as the type of used milk, the coagulation method, pH value, color, and microbial fermentation have a profound impact on the resulting curd properties, and hence on the cheese. The authors discuss some of the most important parameters, and how their modification can lead to a variety of cheese and dairy products. This Brief also addresses the question, if cheese makers can standardize their production procedures, and what role chemistry may play in that. Another important point addressed here are the sources of failures in the curd production, e.g. in packaging systems. Readers will find selected examples of helpful analytical techniques for studying and evaluating curd quality, and for monitoring the chemical evolution of selected chemical substances or protein aggregation.

This Brief reviews thermal processes in the food industry - pasteurization, sterilization, UHT processes, and others. It evaluates the effects on a chemical level and possible failures from a safety viewpoint, and discusses in how far the effects can be predicted. In addition, historical preservation techniques - smoking, addition of natural additives, irradiation, etc. - are compared with current industrial systems, like fermentation, irradiation, addition of food-grade chemicals. The Brief critically discusses storage protocols - cooling, freezing, etc. - and packing systems (modified atmosphere technology, active and intelligent packaging). Can undesired chemical effects on the food products be predicted? This Brief elucidates on this important question. On that basis, new challenges, that currently arise in the food sector, can be approached.

This Brief discusses aspects of the increasingly complex production of legal and reliable food products of non-animal origin. It introduces to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the USA (from January 2011), which requires the food industry to follow risk-based approaches with stronger self-regulation of food safety through measures such as the foreign supplier verification programs (FSVPs). The Brief addresses important chemical hazards of vegetable products: their peculiar microbial ecology, that can become responsible for the occurrence of specific foodborne disease outbreaks, and the chemistry of the involved neurotoxins and other dangerous molecules, that can potentially lead to lethal pathological reactions. Finally, the Brief also critically discusses the technology of ready-to-eat vegetable products and chemical and physical modifications used for packed products (respiration of vegetables, colorimetric modifications, etc.).

This Brief provides a general description of the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). It describes the RASFF approach on the legal level and with reference to notification procedures, including also new tools, which were launched in 2014: iRASFF and the RASFF Consumer Portal. In an introduction, the present status of the RASFF, which had originally been introduced in 1979, is briefly reviewed. It is described as the main basis of modern food policy in Europe, enabling member countries to take rapid corrective actions on the one hand, and to perform statistically reliable analyses of food-related hazards on the other hand. One chapter contains a statistical evaluation of RASFF notifications in general, and specifically with regard to chemical contaminants, including also allergens. In another chapter, reasons for rejections of food and feed at the European borders are analyzed in selected case studies. The Brief provides an easy description for the chemical dangers and contaminants it is referring to, outlining the names, properties, uses and importance in the food and feed industry, toxicological effects, and contamination sources. The last chapter offers an outlook on the future of the RASFF and possible expectations.

This Brief concerns the chemical risk in food products from the viewpoint of microbiology. The "Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point" (HACCP) approach, which is applied for this purpose, is dedicated to the study and the analysis of all possible dangers by food consumptions and the related countermeasures with the aim of protecting the health of consumers. This difficult objective is highly multidisciplinary and requires a plethora of different competencies. This book thus addresses chemists, microbiologists, food technologists, medical professionals and veterinarians. The chemical risks described in this book are related to food additives, contaminants by food packaging materials, chemicals from cleaning systems and microbial toxins. The present book gives an introduction and overview of these various topics.

This Brief is concerned with the connection between food packaging and the chemical composition of packaging materials. In terms of the food packaging hygiene, the influence of the containers on the contained foods is discussed. The book explores new and emerging risks related to food packaging materials in connection with the contained commodities. It also discusses the technology of production with relation to the chemical risk in a "Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point" (HACCP) investigation.

This Brief concerns the influence of chemistry in the modern food and beverages industry. The world of traditional foods has been soundlessly but increasingly interconnected with the chemical industry in the last century. Different areas are considered in a multidisciplinary approach: - the production of chemical additives and of non-food components needed in the food industry (e.g. packaging materials) - the regulatory perspective of the whole food production chain - commercialization of food commodities - the problem of food safety from the viewpoint of official auditors with medical or veterinarian competencies - new and emerging risks related to food packaging materials - the assessment of the authenticity of edible products. This Brief includes different viewpoints, ranging from the management of allergens and food additives in the food plant to the complex matter of the formulation of traditional products with the consequent production of "alternative" versions of the same food.

This Brief defines reliable correlations between the food packaging design and its chemical features in terms of an 'integrated food product' (the synergistic union composed of the edible content and its container). A good design, as described in this Brief, implies the best choices from a series of possibilities, taking into account economical and commercial influences or limitations in the production and processing chain and the chemical interactions that can arise between the food containers and the contained edible material. This Brief highlights how the different requirements can be combined, while avoiding dangerous food risks originating from the chemical interaction between the container and the product. Different designs are critically analysed with relation to the effect on contained foods. The influences and resulting consequences of different possible food packaging designs are highlighted and discussed in selected case studies for some every-day products (like potato chips).

This SpringerBrief explains the importance of Maillard reactions in food processing. It underlines that the term "Maillard reaction" actually does not describe one single chemical reaction, but an entire class of chemical reactions, which lead to browning, with a strong impact on visual appearance, odor, and flavor. It emphasizes that the Maillard reactions are still not fully characterized, despite extensive historical studies. While under the right conditions Maillard reactions have many favorable effects (e.g. formation of antioxidants), the Brief discusses that there are also conditions where Maillard reactions can result in toxic or mutagenic reactions. Hence, it emphasizes that the reaction should be viewed as a complex network of various sub-reactions, with a plethora of concomitant reaction mechanisms and kinetics. This Brief thus makes a step toward a holistic evaluation of the complexity of the Maillard reaction scheme, with the aim of making better and more targeted use in food processing.

This Brief evaluates the consequences of protein modifications in cheeses, with special emphasis on mozzarella cheeses. It explains the influence of biogenic amines on food quality and safety. As certain biogenic amines display a toxic potential to humans, considerable research has been undertaken in recent years to evaluate their presence in fermented foods, such as cheeses. This Brief summarizes how the presence of amines is influenced by different factors such as cheese variety, seasoning and microflora. The authors compare typical profiles of different products, e.g. ripe vs. unripe cheeses, focusing also on the different types of mozzarella cheeses. The Brief also introduces several analytical methods and simulation techniques, which are being used to evaluate the evolutive profiles of different selected molecules, protein aggregation, or proteolysis.