margarine hardstocks is likely to be more difficult and will probably require some element of gene modifi- cation.

In Technological Advances in Improved and Alternative Sources of lipids, the editors' main objectives have been to bring together a series of reviews of methods for inlproving oil characteristics, and to review the technology and economics of devel- oping under-utilized sources of oils.

Two very useful chapters, which seem a little out of place within the context of the title of the book, review nutritional aspects of oils and fats and oxidation, including high- temperature frying and health as- pects. The chapter on nutritional aspects of oils and fats does, however, dwell unduly on trans fatty acids and is also selective in its reporting of data. The great danger of over-

emphasizing trans fatty acids, cer- tainly in the general media, is that it distracts the consumer from the key objectives emphasized by govern- ment advisory bodies, which are to reduce overall fat consumption and to reduce saturated fat intake.

The main chapters on lipid sources cover a diverse range of topics such as biotechnology and genetic engin- eering, edible oils from herbaceous crops, lipids from tropical fruits and nuts, oils from fruit and vegetable by-products and also under-utilized palm and forest products, yeast, moulds and algae as sources of lipids, animal and marine lipids and the use of enzymes in oil extraction and as catalysts for the manufacture of cocoa butter equivalents.

It is interesting to reflect on reading a number of the chapters that fermen- tation, which was initially thought to

offer opportunities of real significance for tailoring oils and fats, has been largely superseded by other tech- niques. For example, improved plant breeding and enzymic interesterifi- cation offer significantly cheaper and cleaner routes to most products. However, it is possible that microbial fermentation will find a place in the manufacture of speciality lipids.

Internationally respected authors have contributed to this work, which is very readable and contains a great deal of useful reference data. I found this a very useful and informative book, which is likely to serve as a useful reference to anyone consider- ing alternative sources of lipids.

~.B. Pad~ Co/worth House.

Unilever Research Laboratory pk, Shambmok, UK MK44 ILQ.

Any book that presents itself as a his- tory of food invites comparison with The Englishman's Food I, Plenty and Want 2, Food at, J Drink in Britain s, even Food in History 4, The Food of China s and so on. There is no com- parison. All of the former are schol- arly books, thoroughly researched, well referenced and contain exten- sive bibliographies. This book fails on all four counts. It is by no means scholarly, it is poorly researched and some statements cry out for authori- tative support, but there are no refer- ences and, in place of a bibliography, there is for 'further reading' a list of twelve books of varied quality. Nor is it history. It nods briefly and inad- equately in that direction, but devotes itself to the current scene in the food industry. It is divided into six parts, five of them with subsections. They are 'Farming', 'Food processing', 'Composition of food', 'Getting ready to eat', 'The ideal diet' and 'Is there a solution?'

Professor Lacey is an academic medical microbiologist with fixed views on animal welfare and the en- vironment. His microbiological views and advice are, so far as they go, sound. If refrigerator manufacturers, all food processors, wholesalers and retailers, caterers and householders all did what he would like them to do, there would be much less food poisoning; and the chapter on that topic is, of course, good. But he is un-

Hard to Swallow: A Brief History of Food by Richard W. Lacey, Cambridge University Press, 1994. £16.95/$22.95 (xi + 340 pages)

ISBN 0 521 44001 7

duly confident of the antipathogenic properties of acid production in the manufacture of hard cheeses, ar,~¢ he completely ignores HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) applications, especially in prepar- ing vulnerable products such as the cook-chill and cook-freeze products, which he opposes. He would do well before writing again on food micro- biology and food processing to study the extensive current work on pre- dictive food microbiology (microbial modelling), and the scientific back- ground to 'use-by' dates (such in- ;~:,mation is available); also, for that matter, the findings of the Polkinghorne Committee on the ethics of genetically modified food.

I agree with the author's emphasis on the importance of grasslands and cereals, his caveat on questionable advertising, his suspicions of bovine somatotropin (BST), hormones, anti- biotics and clenbuterol for animal growth. I agree, too, that Edwina Currie was right, bur I deplore his lack of understanding of the totality of food science and technology, of the factors that have contributed to the

emergence of the modern processed food industry, and of why, if only in the interests of R&D and environ- mental protection, it is necessary to make a profit.

The chapter on beverages is gener- ally good, that on food additives de- cidely is not. The author appears not to have heard of the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the background to the acceptance of a substance for use as a food additive, nor of the worldwide network of information exchange on the safety, or othePwise, of additives already in use; nor, indeed, of food regulations and safety-in-use. Nor does he acknowledge the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Irradiation (JECFI) and the enormous amount of work done to establish the wholesomeness, etc. of irradiated food. He fails, it seems, to understand that irradiation is just another pro- cess of limited application, and that neither it nor any other process can make a good product from poor raw material. Indeed, he implies that the food industry thinks other- wise.

Trends in Food Science & Technology October 1994 [Vol. 5] 335

Book Reviews

There is no recognition of, nor allowance for, the postwar social background to the vast changes that have occurred in the supply of food everywhere. Increased population, greater urbanization, the upsurge in the proportion of working women, have all contributed to the demand for convenient shopping and conve- nience foods. There is no allowance for consumer and nutritionist de- mands for products that are less processed, though Lacey does recog- nize that much additive usage derives from consumer demand for products that only additives can deliver. He is against any kind of intensive pro- duction of food that he equates with "profits before ethics'. He opposes profit, food processing, genetic engin- eering, 'suitable dyes' (i.e. caroten- oids) in the production of eggs and farmed salmon, and 'artificial fertiliz- ers', which seem to include phos- phorus and trace metals without which the ancient soils of south- eastern Australia, for example, would cease to produce their large volumes of exportable food.

In my opinion, Lacey over-empha- sizes polyunsaturates to the detriment of the case for lower overall fat intake. On p. 95 he makes the extra- ordinary statement that palm oil comes from coconut palms, and describes it

(p. 299) as a saturated oil when the iodine value is 48-56 and some 43% of its fatty acids is Clg:z and another 10% is C18:2. He appears not to know that the mason rice is polished is to obviate rancidity on storage, and he equates rapeseed oil with canola oil, which is low erucic acid rapeseed oil, significantly different in fatty acid composition from the product of India and China.

There is much else to question; the book is full of personal views backed up by no references to the litera- ture. The 'concept of favouring fresh whole food produced locally' is admir- able, but how this is to be achieved for modern conurbations is not sug- gested. The allegory on pp. 203-4 is, in my view, in poor taste and is fac- tually wrong in its assertion that ' that country' (the UK) 'stole produce from the other countries it owned'. Columbus, incidentally, is described as a 'marauder' ; but, the author will, I hope, raise a wry smile at the classic example of tautology on p. 51 - 'dead corpses'.

The book itself is well produced. There is a useful glossary and a good index. The misspelling of organophos- phorus (as 'organophosphorous') three times on pp. 74-5, and in the glossary and index, is a bad technical mistake; however, editorial errors are few.

In my opinion, this book over- all lacks balance. It consistently errs in the direction of the 'worst-case scenario' especially because of the author's concern for animal welfare which, in itself, I do not question. I do not think my fellow professionals will learn anything from the good parts; the rest serves only as yet another example of what we food sci- entists have to contend with. I cannot recommend this book, but I have no doubt that it will do well because it says much that many people, whose minds are already made up, want to hear.

K.T.H. Farrer 'Glen Ebor; 24 Rosemoor Grove,

Noah Millers Dale, Chandlers Ford, UK 5053 1TB.

References 1 Drummond, I.C. and Wilbraham, A. (19571

The Englishman's Food (new and revised ednl, Jonathan Cape, London, UK

2 Bumett, I. I19661 Plenty and Want, Thomas Nelson, London, UK

3 Wilson, C.A. I1973) Food and Drink in Britain, Constable, London, UK

4 Tannahill, R. (1973) Foodin HistoD,, Eyre Methuen, London, UK

S Anderson, E.N.(1988) TheFoodofChina, Yale Universily Press

Spices, Herbs and Edible Ftmgi edited by G. Charalambous, Elsevier, 1994. Dfl.500.00/$285.75 (xv + 780 pages) ISBN 0 444 81761 1

Earl J. Merwin, with whom I ha6 the privilege of working until his retire- ment, describes this book succinctly in the first sentence of the Preface: 'This volume is a collection of papers covering various aspects of an import- ant group of botanicals which have long been used to improve the flavor of food'.

Indeed, the book is a compilation of material covering topics that range from those that are general in nature (eg. the chapter entitled 'Spices - recent advances') to those that pro- vide very specific analytical and tech- nical information [e.g. the chapter en- titled 'HPLC-CLND (high-performance liquid chromatography - chemilumi-

nescent nitrogen detector) application to quantitate nitrogen containing cap- saicin compounds in red hot pep- pers']. The 31 chapters are prepared by researchers from academic, gov- ernment and industrial groups from around the world, and are edited by G. Charalambous, who has a good record of choosing knowledgeable writers to report on their particular specialties.

In order to best appreciate the information offered in this book, you not only need to know what you are looking for, you also need to know where to look. A careful review of the contents lisl reveals very different topics. As a matter of fact, even the

type fonts vary from chapter to chap- ter (some may find this distracting, implying lack of continuity). However, all chapters do contain a wealth of technical data, including charts and tables that neatly illustrate details, diagrams of molecular structures and many references for further investi- gation.

S3me of the chapters provide gen- eral topics of interest relating to spices, herbs and edible fungi. The chapter entitled 'Garlic: a matter for heart' describes garlic-related folklore (e.g. as a vampire repellant) linked with supportive scientific evidence. This chapter also includes potions of medicinal value, such as garlic pickled in vodka for clearing the ar- teries. I found it a refreshingly enter- taining segment of a basically scientific text.

One chapter is completely de- voted to vanilla, including its his- tory, cultivation, curing, composition and worldwide consumption volume.

336 Trends in Food Science & Technology October t994 IVoL 51