Review of books

(In this section we publish reviews of the books from which we receive a copy in our library)

Introducing Food Science. Second edition.– R. L. Shewfelt, A. Orta-Ramirez and A. D. Clarke.– CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2016.– XXV + 437 pages.– ISBN 978-1-4822-0974-7.

This is the second edition of a popular textbook appeared in 2009. This new edition maintains the original format and includes a new chapter (chapter 9, “Sustainability and Distribution”), new tables and figures (about 60), new sections at the end of each chapter with problems/exercises to review contents, and a glossary. The book, written with a simple language, gives the reader an exhaustive tour for the many different aspects of food science, although no subject is treated in too much depth. All chapters contain very interesting sections such as “Looking back” (for reviewing contents of the previous chapter), “Remember this” (where the most important contents of the chapter are summarized), “Looking ahead” (which collects the important learned concepts that will appear again), and “Testing comprehension” (which includes a number of questions/problems intended to review the learned concepts). Chapters also include, at the end, a selection of references and recommended lectures.

The textbook contain 15 chapters grouped in four sections. The first section, entitled “Food issues in the news” contains three chapters “Food safety” (21 pages, 10 references); “Healthiness of foods” (26 pages, 12 references); and “Food we eat” (24 pages, 18 references). The second section, entitled “Commercial food products”, includes other three chapters: “Processed foods” (27 pages, 10 references); “Formulated foods” (26 pages, 18 references); and “Chilled and prepared foods” (20 pages, 12 references). The next section, entitled “Functions of food scientists”, contains four chapters: ”Quality assurance” (24 pages, 15 references); “Product and process development” (26 pages, 6 references); “Sustainability and distribution” (22 pages, 21 references); and “Government regulation and scientific research” (21 pages, 18 references). The fourth section, entitled “Scientific principles”, contains five chapters: “Food chemistry” (25 pages, 8 references); “Nutrition” (23 pages, 10 references); “Food microbiology” (22 pages, 6 references); “Food engineering” (written by J. I. Reyes-De-Corcuera and R. L. Shewfelt, 23 pages, 7 references); and “Sensory and consumer science” (20 pages, 11 references). The book finishes with a glossary containing 625 terms.

This is an unusual and very interesting textbook which covers all aspects related to food science. It is very complete and can be very useful for introductory courses to food sciences and also for the general public who want to be introduced into the fascinating food world.

R. Zamora