Food Safety: Theory and Practice

Book excerpt: 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.