Food Chemistry

If you want to know the depth of chemistry behind a menu in a restaurant, this is the book for you. Here are more than 1,000 pages of closely packed information about the essential chemistry of foods and beverages. Many introductory chemistry texts consist of mainly background information with some leavening provided by titillating comments; this book is almost the reverse, with a huge range of interesting information. This is the fourth English edition, corresponding to the sixth German edition, but lagging not far behind. New additions to this already established text include information about the detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and, lest the fare be too rich, food allergies. To use it, though, you need to have a serious background in chemistry, for it is not light reading.

Who is it for? Food chemists, and as a reference work for anyone interested in the scientific background to food.

Presentation: Twenty-three chapters of densely packed information with numerous tables and references.

Would you recommend it? Unreservedly.