The past few years have witnessed an upsurge in incidences relating to food safety issues, which are all attributed to different factors. Today, with the increase in knowledge and available databases on food safety issues, the world is witnessing tremendous efforts towards the development of new, economical and environmentally-friendly techniques for maintaining the quality of perishable foods and agro-based commodities. The intensification of food safety concerns reflects a major global awareness of foods in world trade. Several recommendations have been put forward by various world governing bodies and committees to solve food safety issues, which are all mainly targeted at benefiting consumers. In addition, economic losses and instability to a particular nation or region caused by food safety issues can be huge. Various 'non-dependent' risk factors can be involved with regard to food safety in a wide range of food commodities such as fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, poultry, meat and meat products. Additionally, food safety issues involves a wide array of issues including processed foods, packaging, post-harvest preservation, microbial growth and spoilage, food poisoning, handling at the manufacturing units, food additives, presence of banned chemicals and drugs, and more. Rapid change in climatic conditions is also playing a pivotal role with regard to food safety issues, and increasing the anxiety about our ability to feed the world safely.

Practical Food Safety: Contemporary Issues and Future Directions takes a multi-faceted approach to the subject of food safety, covering various aspects ranging from microbiological to chemical issues, and from basic knowledge to future perspectives. This is a book exclusively designed to simultaneously encourage consideration of the present knowledge and future possibilities of food safety. This book also covers the classic topics required for all books on food safety, and encompasses the most recent updates in the field. Leading researchers have addressed new issues and have put forth novel research findings that will affect the world in the future, and suggesting how these should be faced.

This book will be useful for researchers engaged in the field of food science and food safety, food industry personnel engaged in safety aspects, and governmental and non-governmental agencies involved in establishing guidelines towards establishing safety measures for food and agricultural commodities.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors xv

Foreword xix

Preface xxi

1 Food Safety: A Global Perspective 1
Karl R. Matthews

2 Food Safety: Consumer Perceptions and Practices 11
Anne Wilcock and Brita Ball

3 Educating for Food Safety 31
Angela M. Fraser and Cortney Miller

4 Food Safety Training in Food Services 49
Caroline Opolski Medeiros, Suzi Barletto Cavalli, and Elisabete Salay

5 Product Tracing Systems 63
Jennifer McEntire and Tejas Bhatt

6 Linking Local Suppliers to Global Food Markets: A Critical Analysis of Food Safety Issues in Developing Countries 83
Sapna A. Narula and Neeraj Dangi

7 Achieving Quality Chemical Measurements in Foods 99
Yiu-chung Wong and Michael Walker

8 Protection of the Agri-Food Chain by Chemical Analysis: The European Context 125
Michael Walker and Yiu-chung Wong

9 Pesticide Residues in Food: Health Implications for Children and Women 145
Muhammad Atif Randhawa, Salim-ur-Rehman, Faqir Muhammad Anjum and Javaid Aziz Awan

10 The Need for a Closer Look at Pesticide Toxicity during GMO Assessment 167
Robin Mesnage and Gilles-Éric Séralini

11 What Have We Learnt from the Melamine-tainted Milk Incidents in China? 191
Miao Hong, Cui Xia, Zhu Pan, and Wu Yongning

12 Heavy Metals of Special Concern to Human Health and Environment 213
Sameeh A. Mansour

13 Monitoring and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Food 235
Sameeh A. Mansour

14 Heavy Metal Contamination as a Global Problem and the Need for Prevention/Reduction Measurements 257
Sameeh A. Mansour

15 Radionuclides in Food: Past, Present and Future 281
Rajeev Bhat and Vicente M. Gómez-López

16 Antinutrients and Toxicity in Plant-based Foods: Cereals and Pulses 311
Salim-ur-Rehman, Javaid Aziz Awan, Faqir Muhammad Anjum, and Muhammad Atif Randhawa

17 N anotechnology Tools to Achieve Food Safety 341
Jesús Fernando Ayala-Zavala, Gustavo Adolfo González-Aguilar, María Roberta Ansorena, Emilio Alvarez-Párrilla, and Laura de la Rosa

18 Photonic Methods for Pathogen Inactivation 355
Vicente M. Gómez-López and Rajeev Bhat

19 Intelligent Packaging and Food Safety 375
István Siró

20 Consumer Perception of Safety and Quality of Food Products Maintained under Cold Storage 395
Jasmin Geppert and Rainer Stamminger

21 Foodborne Infections and Intoxications Associated with International Travel 415
Martin Alberer and Thomas Löscher

22 Electron Beam Inactivation of Foodborne Pathogens with an Emphasis on Salmonella 451
Reza Tahergorabi, Jacek Jaczynski, and Kristen E. Matak

23 Inactivation of Foodborne Viruses: Recent Findings Applicable to Food-Processing Technologies 471
Allison Vimont, Ismaïl Fliss, and Julie Jean

24 Use of Synbiotics (Probiotics and Prebiotics) to Improve the Safety of Foods 497
Jean Guy LeBlanc, Alejandra de Moreno de LeBlanc, Ricardo Pinheiro de Souza Oliveira, and Svetoslav Dimitrov Todorov

25 Predictive Microbiology: A Valuable Tool in Food Safety and Microbiological Risk Assessments 517
F.N. Arroyo-López, J. Bautista Gallego, A. Valero, R.M. García-Gimeno, and A. Garrido Fernández

26 Pests in Poultry, Poultry Product-Borne Infection and Future Precautions 535
Hongshun Yang, Shuvra K. Dey, Robert Buchanan, and Debabrata Biswas

27 Safety of Meat and Meat Products in the Twenty-first Century 553
Ian Jenson, Paul Vanderlinde, John Langbridge, and John Sumner

28 Application of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Principles for Ochratoxin-A Prevention in Coffee Production Chain 577
Kulandaivelu Velmourougane, T.N.Gopinandhan, and Rajeev Bhat

Index 597