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Analysis of food constituents 1997
Food Q&i& and Refknccr Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 291-292, 1998 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0950-3293/98 $19.00 +O.OO
ELSEVIER
BOOKREVIEWS PII:80950-3293(98)00001-9
Ed. J.-L. Multon; Trans. Lance Dieter; Eds (English language edn) W. J. Stadelman and Bruce A. Watkins
Analysis of Food Constituents 18966-g
1997.5
some
10 pp. ISBN O-47 l-
the English language editors “be a convenient source of information on the chemical analysis of food components for the manufacture, marketing and labelling of food products”. The first thing that strikes one about the book on reading the contents page is its apparent comprehensiveness. Topics covered include water, minerals, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, enzymic activity and almost all the components
that
might
at all.
It is, therefore,
very
brief as to make it almost impossible to reproduce the techniques described. It may be that if one had all four volumes in the set available, some of the gaps in this
This book is part of a series which have been translated from the French. This particular book will, according to
minor
cases are not cited
difficult to know from the text what is the preferred or accepted method in France. Often descriptions are so
be of interest
particular volume would be filled by the other volumes; however, there is no cross-referencing between volumes and it therefore is difficult to believe that this is the case. Having been so negative, it is worth mentioning one or two bright spots. The first chapter on measurement of water absorbed in food is an excellent account of the classical methods of measuring the water content and absorbed water in foods and does give a very comprehensive table of the norms which are applicable. This chapter is well worth having for anybody who is interested in the measurement of water content although, like most of the other chapters, it is sadly lacking in recent references.
including
radioactive contamination and detection of ionised foods. The authors are almost exclusively French. On the whole the translation is adequate but in some places rather clumsy and, regrettably in one or two places, simply wrong. However, as far as I could see, nowhere was the meaning of the text seriously changed by the translation and the quality of the translation, therefore, does not represent a serious defect in the book.
The chapter on mycotoxins was also comprehensive and useful and interestingly contained references as late as 1995. It is very difficult to understand why these authors were able to put in post-1990 references and most other authors seemed to be unable to do so. I was left wondering what really the point of translating this book was. With the exception of the chapters I have mentioned, I cannot believe that it
Rather more serious is the cursory way in which most of the topics are treated and the lack of up to date references. Very few post-1990 references are quoted anywhere. In at least one chapter, that on non-enzymatic determinations of carbohydrates, most of the references are pre-1980. This is really a serious defect for a book published in 1997. It might be argued that
represents a very valuable addition to the modern literature, although I believe an expanded and updated version could be of enormous value as a reference volume.
the lack of references is not too important provided that adequate reference is made to standard methods and norms. However, here there is also a problem: norms and standard methods are not cited consistently and in
P. S. Belton
PII:SO950-3293(98)00004-I
Harry T.
Lawless & Hildegarde Heymann
International Thomson Publishing Services Ltd, Cheriton House, North Way, Andover SPlO 5BE, U.K. Sensory Evaluation of Food-Principles and 1998. 819 pp. E49.00. 0-1412-99441-O Hb
of disciplines, including biology, physics, chemistry, psyengineering and statistics. This complexity chology, inevitably contributes to the scarcity of trained sensory scientists that afflicts the food (and other) industries in most western countries. The authors of this new book
Practices
Practising sensory scientists are acutely aware that their subject demands knowledge of elements of a wide range 291
ELSEVIER
BOOKREVIEWS PII:80950-3293(98)00001-9
Ed. J.-L. Multon; Trans. Lance Dieter; Eds (English language edn) W. J. Stadelman and Bruce A. Watkins
Analysis of Food Constituents 18966-g
1997.5
some
10 pp. ISBN O-47 l-
the English language editors “be a convenient source of information on the chemical analysis of food components for the manufacture, marketing and labelling of food products”. The first thing that strikes one about the book on reading the contents page is its apparent comprehensiveness. Topics covered include water, minerals, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, enzymic activity and almost all the components
that
might
at all.
It is, therefore,
very
brief as to make it almost impossible to reproduce the techniques described. It may be that if one had all four volumes in the set available, some of the gaps in this
This book is part of a series which have been translated from the French. This particular book will, according to
minor
cases are not cited
difficult to know from the text what is the preferred or accepted method in France. Often descriptions are so
be of interest
particular volume would be filled by the other volumes; however, there is no cross-referencing between volumes and it therefore is difficult to believe that this is the case. Having been so negative, it is worth mentioning one or two bright spots. The first chapter on measurement of water absorbed in food is an excellent account of the classical methods of measuring the water content and absorbed water in foods and does give a very comprehensive table of the norms which are applicable. This chapter is well worth having for anybody who is interested in the measurement of water content although, like most of the other chapters, it is sadly lacking in recent references.
including
radioactive contamination and detection of ionised foods. The authors are almost exclusively French. On the whole the translation is adequate but in some places rather clumsy and, regrettably in one or two places, simply wrong. However, as far as I could see, nowhere was the meaning of the text seriously changed by the translation and the quality of the translation, therefore, does not represent a serious defect in the book.
The chapter on mycotoxins was also comprehensive and useful and interestingly contained references as late as 1995. It is very difficult to understand why these authors were able to put in post-1990 references and most other authors seemed to be unable to do so. I was left wondering what really the point of translating this book was. With the exception of the chapters I have mentioned, I cannot believe that it
Rather more serious is the cursory way in which most of the topics are treated and the lack of up to date references. Very few post-1990 references are quoted anywhere. In at least one chapter, that on non-enzymatic determinations of carbohydrates, most of the references are pre-1980. This is really a serious defect for a book published in 1997. It might be argued that
represents a very valuable addition to the modern literature, although I believe an expanded and updated version could be of enormous value as a reference volume.
the lack of references is not too important provided that adequate reference is made to standard methods and norms. However, here there is also a problem: norms and standard methods are not cited consistently and in
P. S. Belton
PII:SO950-3293(98)00004-I
Harry T.
Lawless & Hildegarde Heymann
International Thomson Publishing Services Ltd, Cheriton House, North Way, Andover SPlO 5BE, U.K. Sensory Evaluation of Food-Principles and 1998. 819 pp. E49.00. 0-1412-99441-O Hb
of disciplines, including biology, physics, chemistry, psyengineering and statistics. This complexity chology, inevitably contributes to the scarcity of trained sensory scientists that afflicts the food (and other) industries in most western countries. The authors of this new book
Practices
Practising sensory scientists are acutely aware that their subject demands knowledge of elements of a wide range 291