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Chapter 31: Food Toxicology

Frank N. Kotsonis; George A. Burdock

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  • Introduction to Food Toxicology

    • Uniqueness of Food Toxicology

    • Nature and Complexity of Food

    • Importance of the Gastrointestinal Tract

  • Safety Standards for Foods, Food Ingredients and Contaminants

    • The FD&C Act Provides for a Practicable Approach

      • The Application of Experience: Generally Recognized as Safe

      • Use of Tolerances

      • Food and Color Additives

      • The Importance of Labeling

    • Methods Used to Evaluate the Safety of Foods, Ingredients, and Contaminants

      • Safety Evaluation of Direct Food and Color Additives

      • Exposure: The Estimated Daily Intake

      • Assignment of Concern Level and Required Testing

      • Safety Determination of Indirect Food Additives

      • Safety Requirements for GRAS Substances

    • Establishing Safe Conditions of Use for New Foods, Macroingredients and New Technologies

      • Transgenic Plant (and New Plant Varieties) Policy

      • Food Macroingredients

      • Nanotechnology

    • Functional Foods

      • Fiber

      • DMG

    • Safety Requirements for Dietary Supplements

    • Assessment of Carcinogens

      • Carcinogenicity as a Special Problem

      • Biological Versus Statistical Significance

      • Carcinogenic Contaminants

  • Adverse Reactions to Food or Food Ingredients

    • Food Allergy

      • Chemistry of Food Allergens

      • Demographics of Food Allergy and Intolerance

    • Food Idiosyncrasy

      • Lactose Intolerance

      • Favism (Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency)

      • Asian Flush Syndrome

    • Anaphylactoid Reactions

    • Food-Drug Interactions

    • Metabolic Food Reactions

      • Excess Consumption of a Normally Nontoxic Food

      • Improperly Prepared Food

      • Pre- and Postharvest Changes

  • Toxic Substances in Food

    • Heavy Metals

      • Lead

      • Cadmium

      • Mercury

    • Halogenated Hydrocarbons (Polychlorinated and Polybrominated Hydrocarbons)

      • Polychlorinated Hydrocarbons

      • Polybrominated Hydrocarbons

    • Nitrosmaines, Nitrosamides, and N-Nitroso Substances

    • Food-borne Molds and Mycotoxins

      • Aflatoxins

      • Trichothecenes

      • Fumonisins

      • Ochratoxin A

    • Ethyl Carbamate

    • Fluoride

    • Toxins in Fish, Shellfish, and Turtles

      • Marine Toxins

      • Innate Marine Toxins

    • Microbiological Agents—Preformed Bacterial Toxins

      • Clostridium botulinum, C butyricum, and C baratti

      • Clostridium perfringens

      • Bacillus cereus

      • Staphylococcus aureus

      • E coli

    • Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

    • Substances Produced by Cooking or Processing

      • Heterocyclic Amines

      • Acrylamide

      • Furan

    • Miscellaneous Contaminants in Food

  • Conclusion

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Introduction to Food Toxicology

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The typical Western diet contains hundreds of thousands of substances naturally present in food and many more, which are formed in situ when food is cooked or processed. Many of these substances affect the nutritional and esthetic qualities of food including appearance and organoleptic properties (ie, flavor, texture, or aroma) that determine whether or not we will even try the food or take a second bite. Whereas substances present in food may be nutritional and/or gratifying, they may not necessarily be “safe” in any amount or for any intended use. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act gives the Federal government the authority to ensure that all foods involved in interstate commerce are safe. Congress, in writing the Act (and its subsequent amendments), understood that safety cannot be proved absolutely and indicated instead that the safety standard for substances added to food can be no more than a reasonable certainty of no harm. As will be pointed out in other sections of this chapter, the language of the FD&C Act effectively provides for practical and workable approaches to the assessment of safety for food, food ingredients, and food contaminants. Because food is highly complex, the legal framework provided by Congress for the regulation of food and substances in ...

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