Rapid and On-Line Instrumentation for Food Quality Assurance

Part 1 Product safety: On-line detection of contaminants; On-line immunochemical assays for contaminant analysis; Using bioassays in contaminant analysis; The rapid detection of pesticides in food; Detecting antimicrobial drug residues; Detecting veterinary drug residues; The rapid detection of toxins in food: A case study; Rapid detection methods for microbial contamination; Rapid analysis of microbial contamination of water. Part 2 Product quality: Rapid techniques for analysing food additives and micronutrients; Detecting genetically-modified ingredients; In-line sensors for food process monitoring and control; Measurement of added water in foodstuffs; Spectroscopic techniques for analysing raw material quality; Using spectroscopic techniques to monitor food composition; Confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM) for monitoring food composition; Using electronic noses to assess food quality; Rapid olfaction arrays in practice; On-line analysis and control of product quality.

Many measurements of product and process characteristics have traditionally been 'off-line', involving removing the product and taking it to a quality control laboratory for analysis over a period of hours or even days. However, the development of faster, more automated methods of production, and the shift to more proactive quality and safety management systems such as HACCP, has forced the food industry to look for more rapid methods with the potential for continuous, real-time measurement of products and processes. With its distinguished editor and international team of contributors, this important collection summarises key developments in this growing field.

Part one reviews the emergence of new methods for analysing food safety. It includes chapters on the detection of foreign bodies, other contaminants such as toxins, pesticides, dioxins and veterinary residues, and rapid methods for detecting pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Part two discusses the measurement of product quality. There are chapters on analysing ingredients such as additives and micronutrients, genetically-modified organisms and added water. A number of chapters discuss methods for analysing food composition, and the use of electronic noses to monitor food quality. A final chapter reviews ways of integrating such measurements into effective process control.

Rapid and on-line instrumentation for food quality assurance provides a benchmark of good practice in this important field, and will be a valuable reference for the food industry.

• Summarises key developments in the growing field of food quality assurance, focussing on rapid and on-line instrumentation
• Includes chapters on the detection of foreign bodies, pathogenic and spoilage bacteria and other contaminants such as toxins, pesticides, dioxins and veterinary residues
• Discusses the measurement of product quality and analyses ingredients such as additives and micronutrients, genetically-modified organisms and added water

The food industry