Pathogens and Toxins in Foods: Challenges and Interventions

ISBN: 9781555814595
ISBN-10: 155581459X
Copyright: 2010
Edition: 1st
Editors: Juneja, Vijay K., Sofos, John N.,
Doody's Expert Review    Score: 84
Reviewer: Rebecca Horvat,  PhD, D(ABMM)  (University of Kansas Medical Center)
Description
The complexity of food processing makes it a challenge to control and monitor for contamination with harmful microbial agents or toxins. This book reviews the infectious agents and toxins that can contaminate food and the methods used to control them.
Purpose
This book is designed to inform readers about the variety of methods used to survey food products for toxic agents, which includes the application of various tests as well as methods of processing that decrease contamination.
Audience
This would be appropriate for students studying food processing as well as for industry and research applications. All of the authors have experience in these areas and have brought their expertise to this topic with clarity and enthusiasm.
Features
The book describes each of the potential microbial agents or toxins that have been found to contaminate food products. These are a variety of different organisms or chemicals that are found naturally in the environment but cause serious harm to humans when they are ingested. The first sections provide a great amount of detail on the bacterial contaminants found in food, which include the ubiquitous Bacillus species and toxin-producing Clostridia species, as well as the enteric bacteria such as Campylobacter, Salmonella, and E. coli. Interestingly, this is followed by a discussion of parasitic agents and fungal agents that can contaminate food products. These chapters contain very good, detailed diagrams of the lifecycles of the agents as well as detailed tables. The book also discusses the potential for seafood toxins from phytoplankton to contaminated shell fish. Each chapter contains good information on the detection methods used for each contaminant.
Assessment
This is a well-designed book with information on food contamination that will be valuable to any individuals involved in food production or research on food production.
Review Questionnaire
Range Question Score
1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 8
1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 10
1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5
1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4
1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4
1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 5
1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 5
1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 4
1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 3
1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5
1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 4
1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 3
1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 3
1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book N/A
1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 8
1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? N/A