Book excerpt: Food diagnostics is a relatively new and emerging area fuelled inlarge part by the ever-increasing demand for food safety.Advances in Food Diagnostics provides the most updated,comprehensive professional reference source available, coveringsophisticated diagnostic technology for the food industry. EditorsNollet, Toldrá, and Hui and their broad team of internationalcontributors address the most recent advances in food diagnosticsthrough multiple approaches: reviewing novel technologies toevaluate fresh products; describing and analyzing in depth severalspecific modern diagnostics; providing an analysis of dataprocessing; and discussing global marketing with an insight intofuture trends. While covering conventional (typically lab-based) methods ofanalysis, the book focuses on leading-edge technologies that arebeing or about to be introduced. The book looks at areas such asfood quality assurance, safety and traceability. Issues such asimproved quality control, monitoring pesticide and herbicideresidues in food, determining the nutritional content of food anddistinguishing between GM and "conventional" foodstuffs arecovered. Advances in Food Diagnostics offers the foodprofessional what its title promises – the latest advances infood diagnostics and analysis.