Food for thought

Food science and technology

G Campbell-Platt (ed)

Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell 2009 | 520pp | ?44.99 (HB)

ISBN 9780632064212

Reviewed by Tim Hutton

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to food science and technology.

It covers all of the major areas of food science (chemistry, biochemistry, analysis, microbiology, physics and sensory evaluation) and technology (biotechnology, processing, engineering, packaging, and product development) as well as associated issues such as marketing, business management, toxicology, quality assurance and legislation. There are even chapters on statistics, mathematical issues and information technology.

The order of the chapters probably caused the editors a bit of head scratching - two or three chapters seem out of place, but it doesn’t really matter since each can be read in isolation, provided the student appreciates that all subjects overlap somewhere!

This is a large book, which I enjoyed dipping into and finding interesting snippets and asides. Unsurprisingly, as the book attempts to cover so much, there are many examples of brief mentions of subjects without much follow-up or explanation of the potential ramifications.

Overall, the chapters are clear and well written, and the whole book is excellently put together. It is certainly wide-reaching in its coverage and should give anyone who reads it a very good appreciation of the many factors that affect the production of food in an industrial society.

It is an ideal textbook for anyone studying food science and technology at university level, and could also prove useful to those in industry to check up on specific facts, or to get a background feel for areas outside of their particular speciality.