Summary

As daily consumers of foods and beverages, everyone has opinions and interests about their diet choices. However, many questions about food are often non-technical and, therefore, defy technical answers. Introducing Food Science addresses a range of food issues facing today's consumer, proceeding from a general and student-friendly discussion to an in-depth technical overview of the basic principles of food science.

This authoritative textbook starts by addressing food issues in the news, from disease outbreaks to the health benefits and detriments associated with international trade. It then outlines the basic principles of food manufacturing and processing techniques with a strong emphasis on unit operations.

With the aid of flowcharts, photographs, and thought-provoking questions, the text assesses the importance of labeling and nutritional information and describes the requirements for providing consumers with the wealth of food options available on grocery store shelves. The book then demonstrates the importance of regulations in ensuring a healthy and safe food supply and culminates with an introduction to the basic scientific underpinnings of food science.

Introducing Food Scienceemphasizes the separation of what is known from what is unknown about food issues and then determines how those issues can be reformulated into testable hypotheses. Unlike other food science references, it conveys both commercial and scientific perspectives, providing a true flavor of food science.

About the Author:

Dr. Robert Shewfeltis the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia. He advises more than 50 students and has taught 11 different courses in the past two years ranging from Freshman Seminars in Chocolate Science and Coffee Technology to graduate-level courses in Food Research & the Scientific Method. Dr. Shewfelt was also the 2006 recipient of the Cruess Award for Excellence in Teaching of IFT.

Choice Review

Shewfelt (emer., Univ. of Georgia) has teamed with Orta-Ramirez (Cornell Univ.) and Clarke (Univ. of Missouri, Columbia) to produce this new edition (1st ed., 2009). The book, appropriate as an introductory textbook, contains much information for this interdisciplinary field, covering nutrition, chemistry, microbiology, and food engineering topics. However, there are mistakes. For example, in chapter 11, "Food Chemistry," the section on carbohydrates has a figure showing trehalose incorrectly identified as a trisaccharide (it is a disaccharide). Also, considering the amount of nutritional misinformation that is commonly and currently available, the inclusion of more data on nutritional deficiency diseases, particularly vitamin deficiencies, would have been helpful. The book does not mention that vitamin B12 can be lacking in vegetarian diets because it is present only in meats or that it is not absorbed well by older people. Similarly, although frequently helpful, the definitions in the glossary are sometimes questionable (e.g., artificial colorant). Furthermore, despite the volume's readability and amount of material covered, the authors could have presented a broader view on certain topics. The interesting discussion of consumer responsibility regarding sustainability issues could have been extended to include consumer education on food additives, such as synthetic coloring agents. This is important because some negative health effects have been associated with certain artificial food dyes. Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates and two-year technical program students. --Miriam Rossi, Vassar College