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Title: Food Safety by Julie Miller Jones ISBN: 0-9624407-3-6 Publisher: Eagan Pr Pub. Date: February, 1992 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $99.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.33 (3 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Still Garbage.
Comment: Easy to read? Perhaps. Does this book have any business as a course text in a science doctoral degree plan? Absolutely not. Scientific? Certainly not.

Rating: 4
Summary: A good, easy to read text dealing with food safety.
Comment: I chose this book as the text book for an introductory course in food toxicology and safety. It was chosen not only because it was the best value for its cost but because it was a down to earth and easy to read approach to the topic. Both the students and their parents could read and benefit from the book which is loaded with useful information. It should not be confused with a serious food toxicology text or a text dealing with the bacterial nuances of food poisoning. However, it is a valuable book to have on the shelf for general information, especially when dealing with laymen. It contains a few mistakes that probably should have been caught by careful proofreading [DES has been banned; and several of the values given in the chapter on food irradiation are wrong]. Even so, this book represents probably the most realistic and sane introduction to food safety currently on the market.

Rating: 1
Summary: Garbage.
Comment: The text's weaknesses are many fold. First, toxicology is a field that examines deleterious effects of chemicals in living systems. The biological context is crucial, but the text badly lacks appreciation of it- both with respect to the eater, and with respect to pathogenic bugs. Similarly, though the text was apparently written for professionals, it shows a lack of toxicologic fundamentals throughout. For example, innumerable compounds are described as undigestible, but the concept (or even word) of bioavailability is never addressed. The latter is a concept that is crucial for an understanding of food toxicology.

The trend throughout the text is to catalog loosely related bits of information, with a very superficial basis of contributing knowledge. Mere cataloging, however, ignores fundamental conceptual relationships that are so important to a rational understanding of the subject. Rationale is what renders concepts reasonable; without rationale, we would be unable to discriminate truth from fallacy. Moreover, it is insufficient in science simply to state THAT things happen; we must probe deeper, and examine HOW and why things happen. A conspicuous example of this is in the text's coverage of infectious diarrhea. Certain enteric pathogens cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and thrombotic thromocytopenic purpurea (TTP). The diverse microbes that cause these conditions do so with a highly conserved, plasmid-borne shiga toxin gene. The shiga-encoded cytotoxin crosses the gut epithelium, enters the bloodstream, and selectively damages tissues resulting in microangiopathic hemolyses. But since these explanations and relationships are ignored, the student is left to dumbly memorize a list of bacteria that "do" and "don't" cause it. This is a useless pedagogical tool that permeates this book. This is not thinking.

In many cases of the book's incessant cataloging of information, sight of a purposeful goal has been lost; as a result there are many entries for food components that have no reference to toxicity or safety anywhere. Is it necessary or within the scope of the course to spend time learning that a particular esoteric food additive exists, if it plays no important role in toxicology?

The text cites an unusual array of reference sources. In particular, there are many included that list "Anonymous" in the author field. I am heretofore unfamiliar with anonymous references, but isn't it antithetical to scientific practice and accountability for the truth? How can scientists replicate or falsify data in anonymous references? There are also numerous articles from newspapers, lay-magazines, trade books, and textbooks relied upon by the text for factual scientific information. Conversely, there is a conspicuous lack of peer-reviewed publications and major reviews that would provide a solid foundation for the text's purposes. There are several important articles that were published prior to the book and are within its scope, that are mysteriously ignored.

In a similar vein, the text's sensational approach is antithetical to a balanced coverage of science. Routinely, Jones intersperses the text and ends chapters with wildly speculative assertions and emotive comments. A scientist should regard this sort of subject matter with discipline, impartiality, and ultimate reverence for the authority of good data. Thus, the exaggerations, assumptions, recommendations based on Miller's personal pontification are inappropriate. If an author wishes to discuss one's beliefs, a good place is in church- not a science book.