Food Safety and Protection

This book provides an overview of issues associated primarily with food safety, shelf-life assessment and preservation of foods. Food safety and protection is a multidisciplinary topic that focuses on the safety, quality, and security aspects of food. Food safety issues involve microbial risks in food products, foodborne infections, and intoxications and food allergenicity. Food protection deals with trends and risks associated with food packaging, advanced food packaging systems for enhancing product safety, the development and application of predictive models for food microbiology, food fraud prevention, and food laws and regulations with the aim to provide safe foods for consumers. Food Safety and Protection covers various aspects of food safety, security, and protection. It discusses the challenges involved in the prevention and control of foodborne illnesses due to microbial spoilage, contamination, and toxins. It starts with documentation on the microbiological and chemical hazards, including allergens, and extends to the advancements in food preservation and food packaging. The book covers new and safe food intervention techniques, predictive food microbiology, and modeling approaches. It reviews the legal framework, regulatory agencies, and laws and regulations for food protection. The book has five sections dealing with the topics of predictive microbiology for safe foods; food allergens, contaminants, and toxins; preservation of foods; food packaging; and food safety laws.

V Ravishankar Rai earned his MSc and PhD from the University of Mysore, India. Currently, Dr. Rai is working as a Professor in the Department of Studies in Microbiology, University of Mysore, India. He was awarded a fellowship from the UNESCO Biotechnology Action Council, Paris (1996), the Indo-Israel Cultural Exchange Fellowship (1998), the Biotechnology Overseas Fellowship, Government of India (2008), and the Indo-Hungarian Exchange Fellowship (2011) Indian National Academy Fellowship (2015) and Cardiff Incoming Visiting Fellowship (2017). Presently, he is the coordinator for the Department of Science and Technology, Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence and University Grants Commission innovative programs.

Jamuna A. Bai has completed her MSc and PhD in Microbiology from University of Mysore, India. She is working as a Researcher in UGC sponsored University with Potential Excellence Project, University of Mysore, India. She has previously worked as ICMR Senior Research Fellow and carried a research work on food safety, role of quorum sensing and biofilms in food-related bacteria and developing quorum-sensing inhibitors. Her research interests also include antimicrobial application of functionalized nanomaterials against food-borne pathogens.