1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910821148503321

Autore

Nestle Marion

Titolo

Safe food : the politics of food safety / / Marion Nestle

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, Calif., : University of California Press, c2010

ISBN

1-282-69774-9

9786612697746

0-520-94630-8

Edizione

[Updated and expanded [ed.].]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (406 p.)

Collana

California studies in food and culture ; ; 5

Disciplina

363.19260973

Soggetti

Bioterrorism

Food - Biotechnology

Food - Safety measures

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE TO THE 2010 EDITION -- PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION. FOOD SAFETY IS POLITICAL -- PART ONE. RESISTING FOOD SAFETY -- PART TWO. SAFETY AS A SURROGATE -- CONCLUSION. THE FUTURE OF FOOD SAFETY -- EPILOGUE -- APPENDIX. THE SCIENCE OF PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY -- NOTES -- LIST OF TABLES -- LIST OF FIGURES -- INDEX

Sommario/riassunto

Food safety is a matter of intense public concern, and for good reason. Millions of annual cases of food "poisonings" raise alarm not only about the food served in restaurants and fast-food outlets but also about foods bought in supermarkets. The introduction of genetically modified foods-immediately dubbed "Frankenfoods"-only adds to the general sense of unease. Finally, the events of September 11, 2001, heightened fears by exposing the vulnerability of food and water supplies to attacks by bioterrorists. How concerned should we be about such problems? Who is responsible for preventing them? Who benefits from ignoring them? Who decides? Marion Nestle, author of the critically acclaimed Food Politics, argues that ensuring safe food involves more than washing hands or cooking food to higher temperatures. It involves politics. When it comes to food safety, billions of dollars are at stake,



and industry, government, and consumers collide over issues of values, economics, and political power-and not always in the public interest. Although the debates may appear to be about science, Nestle maintains that they really are about control: Who decides when a food is safe? She demonstrates how powerful food industries oppose safety regulations, deny accountability, and blame consumers when something goes wrong, and how century-old laws for ensuring food safety no longer protect our food supply. Accessible, informed, and even-handed, Safe Food is for anyone who cares how food is produced and wants to know more about the real issues underlying today's headlines.