Rapid methods for assessing food safety and quality

Abstract

Food safety represents a central issue for the global food chain and a daily concern for all people. Contaminated food by physical, biological or chemical hazards can harm consumers, increasing demand for health services, government expenditure on public health and other social costs. The quality assurance programs are based on the continuous monitoring of raw matter, production process, storage and distribution of the end products, including the purpose for which they are intended. Such programs represent an important objective for food producers, not only for the potential risk to human health, but also for the economic losses to which they can be subjected. The development and use of rapid analytical methods able to identify the main failures in food production can benefit food companies by saving time and costs for the good and fast control of products through the entire food chain.