The safety and quality of food

This chapter provides an overview of factors that influence the safety and quality of food in industrialized countries and of the legal framework that is designed to try to ensure food safety and quality. The major aims of this chapter are: • to give readers enough understanding of the sources of potential hazard in their food to enable them to take practical measures to improve the safety and quality of their own food • to help readers to make a realistic evaluation of the real hazards posed by potential threats to food safety (i.e. to identify priorities for improved food safety) • to give readers a realistic appraisal of the likely benefits of regularly consuming the major categories of functional foods and superfoods which are heavily marketed on their supposed health benefits.