Preface The nutritional demands of the world for the availability of tasty nutri- tious food that is free of pathogens,but also free of harmful additives, are growing more intense.The demand,therefore,is for foods produced with milder treatments (e.g.less heat,salt,sugar,and chemicals),and new technologies for preventing the gr owth of patho nic bacteria are in pite the wide r ar e suitable for use n prac icular food P and in response to thes e mode ern consumer trend the food industry is faced with a serious challenge to succ their objective.Organic acids have for many years been used in food pres ervation,but because of their natural occurrence in food and because they inhibit the growth of most microorganisms,they are ever increasingly being used. This informational book is aimed at providing as much as possible of the available information that may be needed on the organic acids in food preservation.This information is relevant for hands on use in the food industry,various academic disciplines,research,education,and food technologies.Problems identified thus far with regard to the o ide h a ve h een appre pached and discu ed ar pos solutions tigated.This v by st ing t ewes an ings repor the glo quest or providi e reference bo the out ome of project is a combination of information,application regimes,and future prospects of the organic acids as food preservatives.This may provide the food industry as well as the food science and academic worlds with a book that contains most of the factual information on organic acids in food preservation,in combination with the latest and greatest research data(the "past,present,and future of organic acids").In other words,the authors endeavored to represent the actual situation to the reader. This is a unique book by itself,as to our knowledge there is no other book available that focuses solely on the subject of the organic acids as food servati s The book not o ides info rmation on these cids ut also highlights the proble provides xvii xvii Preface The nutritional demands of the world for the availability of tasty nutri￾tious food that is free of pathogens, but also free of harmful additives, are growing more intense. The demand, therefore, is for foods produced with milder treatments (e.g., less heat, salt, sugar, and chemicals), and new technologies for preventing the growth of pathogenic bacteria are increas￾ingly required. Despite the wide range of potential antimicrobials, rela￾tively few are suitable for use in practice, in particular food products, and in response to these modern consumer trends and also to food legislation, the food industry is faced with a serious challenge to successfully attain their objective. Organic acids have for many years been used in food pres￾ervation, but because of their natural occurrence in food and because they inhibit the growth of most microorganisms, they are ever increasingly being used. This informational book is aimed at providing as much as possible of the available information that may be needed on the organic acids in food preservation. This information is relevant for hands-on use in the food industry, various academic disciplines, research, education, and food technologies. Problems identified thus far with regard to the organic acids have been approached and discussed and possible solutions inves￾tigated. This was made possible by studying the newest relevant research findings reported from industries and laboratories around the globe. In a quest for providing the ultimate reference book, the outcome of this book project is a combination of information, application regimes, and future prospects of the organic acids as food preservatives. This may provide the food industry as well as the food science and academic worlds with a book that contains most of the factual information on organic acids in food preservation, in combination with the latest and greatest research data (the “past, present, and future of organic acids”). In other words, the authors endeavored to represent the actual situation to the reader. This is a unique book by itself, as to our knowledge there is no other book available that focuses solely on the subject of the organic acids as food preservatives. The book not only provides information on these acids, but also highlights the problems and provides relevant solutions