The Use Of Chemicals In Food Production

This book addresses the use and management of chemicals in the food and beverage industry. The authors explore the use of chemicals as food additives and sanitizers, and provide an overview of their toxicological characterisation with regard to the employees who handle them, and to consumers. In addition, the authors pay special attention to the safe and reliable management of chemicals in the food production and packaging areas, and in quality control laboratories. Topics such as toxicological risks, the importance of labelling, technical and material safety data sheets, risk categories (e.g. fire, explosion, unforeseen chemical reactions, etc.), safe use of hazardous chemicals, prevention procedures, and emergency planning in laboratories and industrial areas are also covered. In closing, readers will learn more about the future behaviour of food-production workers regarding chemical handling and approved uses, especially in light of the recent REACH obligations. Given its scope, the book will appeal not only to researchers interested in food production, food safety, risk prevention and public health, but also to professionals involved in quality control and risk assessment in the food and beverage industry.

A New York Times Notable Book The inspiration for PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film The Poison Squad. From Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times-bestselling author Deborah Blum, the dramatic true story of how food was made safe in the United States and the heroes, led by the inimitable Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, who fought for change By the end of nineteenth century, food was dangerous. Lethal, even. "Milk" might contain formaldehyde, most often used to embalm corpses. Decaying meat was preserved with both salicylic acid, a pharmaceutical chemical, and borax, a compound first identified as a cleaning product. This was not by accident; food manufacturers had rushed to embrace the rise of industrial chemistry, and were knowingly selling harmful products. Unchecked by government regulation, basic safety, or even labelling requirements, they put profit before the health of their customers. By some estimates, in New York City alone, thousands of children were killed by "embalmed milk" every year. Citizens--activists, journalists, scientists, and women's groups--began agitating for change. But even as protective measures were enacted in Europe, American corporations blocked even modest regulations. Then, in 1883, Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, a chemistry professor from Purdue University, was named chief chemist of the agriculture department, and the agency began methodically investigating food and drink fraud, even conducting shocking human tests on groups of young men who came to be known as, "The Poison Squad." Over the next thirty years, a titanic struggle took place, with the courageous and fascinating Dr. Wiley campaigning indefatigably for food safety and consumer protection. Together with a gallant cast, including the muckraking reporter Upton Sinclair, whose fiction revealed the horrific truth about the Chicago stockyards; Fannie Farmer, then the most famous cookbook author in the country; and Henry J. Heinz, one of the few food producers who actively advocated for pure food, Dr. Wiley changed history. When the landmark 1906 Food and Drug Act was finally passed, it was known across the land, as "Dr. Wiley's Law." Blum brings to life this timeless and hugely satisfying "David and Goliath" tale with righteous verve and style, driving home the moral imperative of confronting corporate greed and government corruption with a bracing clarity, which speaks resoundingly to the enormous social and political challenges we face today.

Chemical food safety deals with all aspects of chemical risks in the food chain, predominantly with the biologically active components of food, additives, contaminants and their toxicology. Preventing the contamination of food with problematic chemical compounds requires a thorough understanding of how compounds enter and pass through the food production process, in addition to toxicology and risk management. Chemical Food Safety covers the underlying principles and applied science required to understand, analyse and take professional action on food safety problems and questions that call for interventions at a local, national or international level. The text follows food contaminants through the production and processing of plant, fungal, algal and animal foods, including oral exposure and intestinal absorption. Risk assessment is explained in the context of targeted future risk management and risk communication, with a view to assessing, managing and communicating risk in the food chain.Chemical Food Safety is ideal for higher level students as well as those working in the food production industry, consultants and national food authorities.