Food Alert: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Food Safety (Facts for Life) [Paperback]

Morton Satin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Facts for Life | Publication Date: June 1999

Food Alert is the definitive consumer guide to the causes, dangers, and prevention of foodborne diseases. With obvious passion and an authoritative voice, a renowned expert provides the most current, accurate, and complete information on the subject.

The book includes several checklists on what to look for when buying food, proper storage of food, hygiene tips, food preparation and consumption, and safe microwaving.

Other features include:

Deficiencies of modern food handling that allow germs and bacteria to thrive

Protection and prevention from exposure to foodborne illnesses

The 20 most common causes of food-borne illness in the kitchen

A special reference section covering all of the potentially dangerous diseases and bacteria carried by food

An appendix of foodborne diseases by symptom

The latest technologies and practices designed to make food safer

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Food Alert! is a treasure chest of historical fact and modern science dished up in a nourishing menu of statistics, illustrations and common sense we can use to protect our food supply--and ourselves--against common food-borne diseases. This book belongs in every kitchen, right next to your favorite recipe books." -- Carol Ann Rinzler, Author of Nutrition for Dummies and The New Complete Book of Food

"Here is a book for students, a reference for generalists, and a historical review for public health officials. It also addresses readers at a practical level, so chefs, homemakers--everybody dealing with food--will benefit greatly from this wonderful, authoritatively written, clearly presented paperback. And physicians might learn a thing or two also. . . . [an] excellent treasure." -- M. Kroger, Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus -- Choice, December 1999

About the Author

Morton Satin is a molecular biologist, a recognized authority in the international food industry and an expert in the field of food safety. He has written numerous publications and articles on food safety and food processing technology for both professional and general readers. He has won several awards for his contributions to the food industry, and has served as a staff member and consultant to governments, expert committees, international organizations and trade associations. He lives in Rome, Italy.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Checkmark Books (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816039364
• ISBN-13: 978-0816039364
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,967,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Morton Satin (Rockville, MD) is currently the director of technical and regulatory affairs at the Salt Institute. He recently retired as the director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Global Agribusiness Program. A molecular biologist, he is the author of Death in the Pot: The Impact of Food Poisoning on History.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a very readable and a very sobering book. Get it!, August 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Food Alert: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Food Safety (Facts for Life) (Paperback)

This is an excellent book! Satin really seems to empathise with readers because he is able to explain very complicated medical and technical jargon in a way that anyone can easily understand. Not only is it a 'Who's Who' of all the causes of food poisoning, but it also a manual on how to avoid the experience. Although the book is crammed with an unbelievable amount of information on all the food-borne diseases and how to avoid them, it is an easy book to negotiate through. There is an excellent index, glossary and in particular the appendices on disease symptoms and food storage make this one of the most practical and convenient books I ever read. The book is a bit frightening because, despite the author's sense of humour, the book tells it all - the food poisoning problems in the home, in restaurants and fast food places, in school cafeterias, even on cruise ships, picnics and barbecues. Satin really gets into what goes on in the food industry. I was particularly concerned with some of the terrible long-term consequences of food poisoning. This really yanked the subject away from the typical image we have of food poisoning as being simply diarrhoea or an upset stomach. The book also talks about the added dangers of food poisoning for young kids, pregnant women, senior citizens and people who have AIDS. Satin always refers to actual recorded cases, which brings the matter much closer to home, because you can see how easy it is for anyone in your family to get food poisoning. Unless you know what you are doing, eating is like playing roulette. This book will definitely improve your chances of avoiding food poisoning. A good knowledge of food poisoning is a must these days. That's why I highly recommend this book as a 'must' read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Protect your family - Learn from this book, August 29, 2003

By 

dean_from_sa (Plano,TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food Alert: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Food Safety (Facts for Life) (Paperback)

A book that describes how that which sustains you may also maim you. Light reading? Hardly, but it is also not a bad or difficult read. Dr. Satin's prose and ability to address sensitive topics without bludgeoning the reader makes this book enjoyable indeed. It would be easy to assume that food borne pathogens and the illness that they cause is the other guy's problem. Dr. Satin shines a bright light on food handling and shows that we can all improve. He exposes the reader to the best that science has to offer to help us avoid illness. He repeatedly shows food irradiation to be a valuable tool that the alarmists in the food activists groups have unfairly maligned. As food irradiation becomes more available in the local grocery and restaurant, it is my hope that rational voices like Dr. Satin's carry the day.

Proof of Dr. Satin's wit shows through while debunking myths and passing on advice.
-If anybody insists that a little dirt is good for you, take them out to the garden and have them swallow a thimbleful of the stuff.
-When you are finally sure you can eat off the floor, make sure you do not!

If you can stand to take a critical eye at your own food prep and local restaurant, this book will help you avoid the dangers in your food. Protect your children, pregnant and elderly with the ideas you will garner from this text.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, July 29, 2000

By 

Pamela Stone - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food Alert!: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Food Safety (Hardcover)

Food Alert is a must for every kitchen. And should be placed right next to our cookbooks to remind us of the dangers of infected food.

During the last days in 1992, at the height of the Christmas season, several people on the west coast began to succumb to a lethal food-borne infection. Most of the unfortunate victims were children who had eaten hamburgers at a Jack in the Box restaurant. Toddlers who came in contact with the children who had eaten the burgers were also infected. It infected over 700 people in Washington, Idaho, California, Nevada. The really heartbreaking part of this whole mess was that several of the youngest victims died an unusually cruel and agonizing death, and a lot of those that lived have had to have repeated intestinal surgery and extended kidney dialysis, many will be infected for the rest of their lives. Food borne illnesses can happen at home also, and can be just as fatal and that is why this book is so important to have in our kitchens. More than 600 food borne diseases are known about today. Food alert provides everything that we need to know to protect our families

1) Learn about the 20 most causes of food contamination in your kitchen. 2) What steps you can take to lower the risk of food borne illness. 3) The causes of food borne disease. 4) How to avoid buying, handling, or eating contaminated food. 5) How to tell if you might be suffering from a food borne illness.

A very informative book that will open our eyes about what we are preparing and feeding our families and ourselves. This is an excellent book to have in our kitchens. Get informed now.