Food Science FAQ
Answers to legal, science, health, and industry questions concerning food science. Also has a list of abbreviations of significance to food science. Persons wishing to post to sci.bio.food-science are advised to read this FAQ first.
On behalf of Rachel Zemser and J. Ralph Blanchfield, I welcome you to sci.bio.food-science.
You are all encouraged to contact one of us if you have suggestions additions, or other 'major' questions we haven't thought of. Our names and email addresses are:
Rachel Zemser, creator of the newsgroup sci.bio.food-science RZemser@aol.com
J. Ralph Blanchfield, Food Science, Food Technology & Food Law Consultant, Chair, IFST Member Relations & Services Committee and Web Editor, IFST Web on the WWW jralphb@easynet.co.uk
Paul King, Creator and Maintainer of the List of Common Abbreviations pking123@sympatico.ca
For a glossary of scientific, marketing, industry, technical and legal terms of relevance to food science, see FAQ 2 of 3. For a list of common questions and answers about food and food science, see FAQ 3 of 3.
1. General Guidelines For Posting In sci.bio.food-science- The goals of this newsgroup are:...
- 2. A List Of Food Science Related Web Sites
- The following is a list of food science related web sites. ...
- 1. Academic Food Sites
- There are many food science/edu web pages. This list does ...
- 2. General Web Sites Relating To Food Science And Technology
- ACCESSING THIS FAQ THRU THE WEB VIA DEJANEWS.COM ...
- 3. Food Companies
- Campbell Soup Company:
- 4. Food Science And Technology Related Mailing Lists-
- BEEF-L: A mailing list and discussion group for beef ...
- 5. Recommended Food Science And Related Texts
- The purpose of this section is to provide information on recommended ...
- 6. Book Publishers' Web Sites
- Aspen Publishers
- 3. A List Of Common Abbreviations
- It is not expected that you know and use all of the ...
- 4. Definitions And Interpretations Of Food Related Terms
- In the following list of definitions of food-related words ...
- 4. Marketing Terms
- When used in the labelling, advertising or description of a food,...
- 5. Frequently Asked Questions About Food Science And Technology
- Here are brief answers, compiled by the Institute of ...
- 5. Key Definitions
- Food science --...
- 6. FAQ Groupings
- In the interests of user-friendliness the FAQ is written ...
- 1. What is good/bad food?
- In keeping with their Code of Professional Conduct, ...
- 2. What is a good diet?
- A good diet is a balanced one; lots of different foods and ...
- 3. Do I need to worry about getting enough protein?
- You will automatically get enough protein to stay healthy if ...
- 4. Is sugar harmful?
- Not in itself. However, if you eat a lot of sugar in the form ...
- 5. Isn't honey healthier than sugar?
- Not really. Honey is largely a strong solution of sugars ...
- 6. Why is sugar used in foods?
- Sugar is used in some foods to make them sweet, in others ...
- 7. Is salt harmful?
- Salt is essential to a healthy diet. We need about 1 g of salt ...
- 8. Why is salt used in foods?
- There is enough salt naturally present in food to satisfy ...
- 9. Are fats harmful?
- As with everything else, but more importantly with fats, ...
- 10. What about different types of fat?
- Fats in foods, or, more correctly, their fatty acids, are ...
- 11. Should we cut out all fats?
- No, because some fatty acids are essential, and we need ...
- 12. What is a hydrogenated vegetable oil?
- Vegetable oils, as the name implies, are liquid at ...
- 13. What are trans fatty acids?
- Unsaturated fatty acids in foods can exist in ...
- 14. Is margarine better for us than butter?
- There is no simple answer. Butter contains more saturated ...
- 15. Aren't natural foods better for us than processed foods?
- Nearly everything we eat comes originally from a natural source,...
- 16. Why are foods processed?
- To make them palatable, edible, convenient and with ...
- 17. Is a vegetarian diet better for us?
- Not necessarily. Current nutritional advice, to eat less fat,...
- 18. Isn't it more expensive to eat a 'prudent' diet?
- Eating more fruit and vegetables and less fat does at ...
- 19. Do we need more vitamins and minerals?
- A balanced and varied diet -- not too much of anything -- ...
- 20. Do organic foods taste better?
- Some people who favour organic foods for other reasons ...
- 21. What foods are good for arthritis?
- No individual foods will positively help disorders of this kind,...
- 22. Is ginseng/royal jelly/pollen/lecithin/kelp good for me?
- No convincing scientific evidence has so far been forthcoming ...
- 23. What are 'junk foods'?
- This term has no specific meaning. It is an invented label ...
- 1. What is food poisoning?
- Food poisoning is illness caused by any harmful amount of ...
- 2. Why has food poisoning increased so much?
- Food scientists and technologists in industry take great care ...
- 3. Why all the fuss about food hygiene?
- It is a fact of life that food is threatened by ...
- 4. Aren't we losing natural immunity by producing foods with no pathogens present?
- That fear is groundless. The opposite view, that all food ...
- 5. How can food poisoning be prevented?
- There is no single answer. It needs a combination of ...
- 6. What about irradiation of food?
- Irradiation is a comparatively new method, one method among many,...
- 7. Isn't genetic modification a dangerous interference with nature?
- Genetic modification has been used for countless years ...
- 8. Doesn't gene transfer from one species to another create the risk of ethical problems or even cannibalism?
- The officially appointed UK Committee on the Ethics of ...
- 9. Shouldn't all genetically modified foods, or those containing genetically modified ingredients, be labelled as such, to warn consumers?
- There are two distinct kinds of genetic modification. The ...
- 10. With regard to BSE, is British beef safe to eat?
- BSE is an extremely serious disease of cattle, the ...
- 1. Why are food additives used?
- Many foods depend on additives for safety, stability ...
- 2. But aren't additives dangerous?
- All additives in the UK and Europe are controlled by law, ...
- 3. Food colours are only cosmetic -- shouldn't they be banned?
- Part of the enjoyment and appeal of food is its appearance,...
- 4. Why are foods packaged?
- Foods are packaged to protect them and keep them in ...
- 5. What function does packaging perform?
- The primary packaging of the food contains it; preserves it ...
- 6. Do we really need the protection that packaging is said to provide?
- Yes. Food safety absolutely requires it. Moreover, a ...
- 7. Is packaging wasteful of materials and energy?
- Of course the production of anything, including ...
- 8. Can packaging and energy usage be reduced without compromising the protection it gives to the food?
- Here are four ...
- 9. Why are there so many different types of packaging materials?
- Most food products can be packed in a variety of ...
- 10. Why are some packages difficult to open?
- the design of a package is inevitably a compromise between, ...
- 11. What about recycling of packaging?
- The '3 R's' of current environmental packaging law and ...
- 12. What about returnable, refillable systems?
- There are several requirements for a re-fillable system to work....
- 13. Why does packaging contribute so much to household waste?
- It is only when the package is emptied and needs to be ...
- 14. Do packaging materials affect the food in them?
- The packaging material has both to preserve the food and ...
- 1. What is food science? What is food technology?
- *Note. The answers given are the same as the KEY ...
- 2. Wouldn't our food be even better without scientists and technologists interfering with it?
- No. It is the scientists and technologists, working ...
- 3. Why do scientific experts often disagree?
- Personal opinions vary in every walk of life, but ...
- 4. Doesn't hindsight show that the experts always "got it wrong"?
- No. Hindsight shows that the experts nearly always got ...
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