Toxic Constituents Of Plant Foodstuffs

Toxic Constituents of Plant Foodstuffs focuses on toxic substances in foods of plant origin, including protease inhibitors, hemagglutinins, goitrogens, cyanogens, saponins, gossypol, lathyrogens, and allergens. The book also considers adventitious toxic factors in processed foods and miscellaneous toxic factors such as stimulants and depressants, hypoglycemic agents, toxic amino acids, metal-binding constituents, and hepatotoxins. This volume is organized into 13 chapters and begins with an overview of protease inhibitors, including their distribution in the plant kingdom, physical and chemical properties, and mechanism of interaction with proteases. The next chapters focus on the adventitious introduction of toxic factors into processed plant foods; the inactivation of the trypsin inhibitor and hemagglutinin found in legumes by cooking; and the extraction of a nontoxic, edible starch from cycads. The reader is also introduced to lathyrism, the toxicity of agglutinins, occurrence of goitrogens in thioglucoside-containing plants, and dietary sources of cyanogen. This book will be of interest and value to food scientists who are concerned with the safety of food supply and public health officials tasked with enforcing regulations necessary to ensure the safety of a particular food.

Toxic Constituents of Animal Foodstuffs focuses on toxic substances that occur naturally as well as those that are deliberately or inadvertently introduced by man in animal foodstuffs. This book gives specific discussions on food contaminants in meat, dairy products, avian and fish eggs, shellfish, fish, and algae. It notes that the naturally occurring toxicants seem to be confined mainly to avian and fish eggs and to certain kinds of shellfish and amphibia. Examples of toxicity due to the introduction of synthetic chemicals may be found in most meat and dairy products. Moreover, special consideration is given to the problem of the carcinogenic nitrosamines in meat products to which nitrites have been added. This reference will convey an increased awareness of the fact that even products of animal origin may prove to be potentially hazardous to health because of certain toxic substances. Consequently, there will be a vital need for their close surveillance in the food chain.

While systems such as GMP and HACCP assure a high standard of food quality, foodborne poisonings still pose a serious hazard to the consumer's health. The lack of knowledge among some producers and consumers regarding the risks and benefits related to food makes it imperative to provide updated information in order to improve food safety. To

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.

This book summarizes the knowledge of naturally occurring toxic and antinutritive food compounds. It includes those plants and animals of value or potential value for human nutrition, either by direct consumption or indirect. as feed for domestic animals. Also included are toxic and antinutritive compounds formed from food components during processing and storage, as well as the toxic and antinutritive compounds present as natural constituents in raw materials and foodstuffs. FEATURES: Discusses food intolerance-inducing compounds, toxins and toxic compounds; Focuses on the most frequently occurring intolerances; Describes the reaction conditions for the formation of these compounds, as well as for their degradation; Considers nitroso compounds and ethyl carbamate formation.