Book excerpt: Instrumental Analysis of Foods Recent Progress covers the proceedings of the Third International Flavor Conference held at Corfu, Greece, on July 27-30, 1983. The theme of the conference is ""Instrumental Analysis of Foods and Beverages: Recent Developments"". This two-volume book highlights the developments in instrumental analysis of foods and beverages, including food flavor, food packaging, and food quality. Introductory chapters discuss European and international flavor regulations, chemical senses, and food flavor. Subsequent chapters describe gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric, and near-IR reflectance analysis of volatile components, aroma, and food flavors, along with the use of general purpose computers and integrators in the flavor laboratory. The book also examines the formation of flavor compounds, including esters, terpenoids, and glycols, and their importance to food quality evaluation, along with analysis of undesirable components in food. Lastly, it addresses quality assurance and validation of analytical data issues in food industry. With its comprehensive review features, this book will be useful to all who are interested in food and beverage analysis and food quality.