ABSTRACT
Many problems related to food safety are being noticed in developing countries; however, multidisciplinary studies on this topic are extremely rare. In this chapter, three case studies in Brazil will be evaluated: the occurrence of mycotoxins in foods, the occurrence of foodborne illness outbreaks, and technological constraints in the cold-chain infrastructure. A multidisciplinary approach was used involving policy development, agricultural economics, food chemistry, food microbiology, and food quality. Although there is no efficient information system yet on the number of diseases linked to food in Brazil, the results of this research suggest that the Brazilian population is facing important health risks arising from food, such as food contamination with mycotoxins. A higher frequency of foodborne diseases was related to poor hygienic and sanitary conditions. It was verified that the cold chain in Brazil has qualitative problems, particularly in its geographic dispersion. The government has implemented various regulations to control food safety and continues to follow such reforms. Even though the number of enterprises concerned with food safety in Brazil is growing, this sector still faces many problems specific to developing countries.
