Review of books

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

Toxins and other harmful compounds in foods.– A. Witczak and Z. E. Sikorski, Eds.– CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL, USA.– XV + 492 pages.– ISBN 978-1-4987-4852-0.

This book is the volume no. 16 of the series “Chemical and Functional Properties of Food Components” that CRC Press has been publishing since 2001. In this case, the volume is dedicated to a subject with a great interest for the consumer and that has been the objective of numerous investigations because of its important consequences: the presence toxins in foods. The methodological advances produced in recent years have made that the study of these substances has advanced considerably and nowadays there is much information on them and new perspectives have been opened. This book collects much of this information. Each chapter is dedicated to one type of toxin, microorganism, or food, and very different aspects are described: formation, composition, effect of processing, health consequences, etc.

The book contains the following 19 chapters: “Problems of food safety”, W. Dabrowski and A. Witczak (6 pages, 8 references); “Natural toxins of plant origin (phytotoxins)”, K. D. Welch, S. T. Lee, D. Cook, B. T. Green and K. E. Panter (45 pages, 132 references); “Mushroom toxins”, R. Kotlowski (10 pages, 13 references); “Marine phycotoxins and seafood safety”, G. M. Hallegraeff (21 pages, 66 references); “Biogenic amines”, S. Köse (68 pages, 138 references); “Mycotoxins”, S.-S. T. Hua, P.-K. Chang and J. Palumbo (16 pages, 118 references); “Bacterial toxins”, W. Dabrowski, A. Dlubala and I. Helak (31 pages, 54 references); “Pesticide, fertilizer, and antibiotic residues in food”, H. Abdel-Gawad (29 pages, 94 references); ”Toxic microelements in food”, M. Protasowicki (12 pages, 45 references); “Cyanogenic compounds and estrogen disruptors”, B. Kudlak, M. Wieczerzak and J. Namiesnik (9 pages, 20 references); “Phthalates”, T. Fierens, M. Van Holderbeke, A. Standaert, I. Sioen and S. De Henauw (23 pages, 58 references); “Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds in food”, A. Witczak (30 pages, 64 references); “Epidemiological and medical impact of food contamination by viruses transmission via food and water”, E. Kucharska and J. Bober (17 pages, 30 references); “Possible adverse effects of food additives”, S. G. Dixit (12 pages, 7 references); “Food allergens”, E. Kucharska and B. Wróblewska (31 pages, 103 references); ”The effect of processing on the safety and nutritional value of food”, Z. E. Sikorski and H. Staroszczyk (32 pages, 35 references); “Toxic components of food packaging materials”, L. Wolska and M. Tankiewicz (23 pages, 86 references); “Detection of harmful compounds in food”, G. Galezowska and L. Wolska (19 pages, 44 references); “Regulations established to control harmful food contaminations”, S. S. Smoczynski (31 pages, 38 references).

In summary, a good up-to-data summary of the diverse food toxins. It will be very useful for researchers involved in this subject and also for doctoral and postdoctoral courses.

R. Zamora