Book excerpt: Globally, there are many safety concerns emanating from the consumption of food, and are categorized as physical, biological and chemical hazards. This volume explores a number of safety issues pertaining to foods consumed across the globe today. It represents a useful resource for researchers, food handlers and legislative bodies as it presents key findings in the area of food safety, and details the findings of a number of scientific research studies conducted through surveys, laboratory analysis and environmental assessments. The findings indicate the presence of eminent food safety threats along the food chain, ranging from pathogens, pesticide, and antibiotic residues, to heavy metals, food additives, aflatoxins, and allergens, among others. Food handling practices along the food chain and the importance of adhering to good agricultural and manufacturing practices are shown to play a crucial role in ensuring safe foods.