The contents of this book are the proceedings of the ACS symposium, "Impact of Processing on Food Safety," which was held April 16-17, 1997, at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Francisco, CA. This symposium brought together re­ searchers from diverse backgrounds in academia, government, and industry. Twenty speakers discussed topics ranging from the regulatory aspects of food processing to the microbiological and chemical changes in food during processing. The main goal of food processing is to improve the microbial safety of food by de­ stroying pathogenic and spoilage organisms. Food processing can also improve food safety by destroying or eliminating naturally occurring toxins, chemical contaminants, and antinutritive factors. Unfortunately, processing can also cause chemical changes that result in the formation of toxic or antinutritive factors. The purpose of this book is to summarize our knowledge of both the beneficial and deleterious effects of processing. Chapter I con­ siders the consumer's perceptions about food contaminants and food processing. Chapter 2 summarizes the effects of traditional and nontraditional processing methods on microor­ ganisms in food. Chapters 3-6 review the effects of processing on lipids (fatty acids and cholesterol) in food. Changes in the nutritive value of vitamins and minerals as a result of processing are discussed in chapter 7. Chapter 8 concentrates on how processing reduces the allergenicity of some foods.