Food Safety Sourcebook

Basic Consumer Health Information about the Safe Handling of Meat, Poultry, Seafood, Eggs, Fruit Juices, and Other Food Items, and Facts about Pesticides, Drinking Water, Food Safety Overseas, and the Onset, Duration, and Symptoms of Foodborne Illnesses, Including Types of Pathogenic Bacteria, Parasitic Protozoa, Worms, Viruses, and Natural Toxins

Along with the Role of the Consumer, the Food Handler, and the Government in Food Safety; a Glossary, and Resources for Additional Help and Information

Every year in the United States foodborne infections cause millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths, yet most infections go undiagnosed and unreported. Consumer education about basic principles of food safety is an important component of preventing foodborne diseases.

Food Safety Sourcebook offers tips to consumers about the safe handling of food in their own kitchen. It provides information about government guidelines for those who process and handle food and information about government programs to insure food safety. It describes several types of foodborne bacteria, parasites, worms, viruses, and natural toxins and provides background information about the onset, duration, and symptoms of foodborne illnesses.

The book's 54 chapters are arranged in six parts:

• Introduction to Food Safety - discusses basic food safety issues, including food handling, safer seafood, meat and poultry, eggs, juices, pesticides, and more
• Common Foodborne Pathogens - provides information on foodborne illness, pathogenic bacteria, parasitic protozoa and worms, viruses, and natural toxins
• The Consumer's Role in Food Safety - explains various ways in which consumers can improve food safety at home
• The Food Handler's Role in Food Safety - examines food safety standards and their application in different settings
• The Government's Role in Food Safety - contains articles on FoodNet and PulseNet as well as a government report on national food and drug safety
• Additional Help and Resources - includes a glossary, a directory of additional resources, and information for consumers who have had a problem with food products. All contact data in the "Additional Help and Information" section has been fully verified and includes Web site and e-mail addresses as available.
• Completing the Sourcebook is a comprehensive index.

Material in this book has been collected from a wide range of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and periodicals.

What reviewers are saying . . .

"This book is recommended for public libraries and universities with home economics and food science programs." - E-Streams, November 2000

"Recommended reference source." - Booklist, American Library Association, May 2000

"This book takes the complex issues of food safety and foodborne pathogens and presents them in an easily understood manner. [It does] an excellent job of covering a large and often confusing topic." - American Reference Books Annual, 2000