ABSTRACT
Interactive ToolsThis section’s sites include databases, calculators, quizzes, and tools related to food safety and security and aspects of consumer health. The symbol is used to denote major resources with authoritative and original content. A to Z Comprehensive List of Terms <https://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/a2z-term.html>;
The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) is a department of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which in turn is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This alphabetical list of terms ranges from acidification to mycotoxins to zoonosis. Typical entries include understandable definitions, illustrations, and implications for food safety. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry <https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/>;
The CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) focuses on protecting Americans from exposure to toxic substances and situations by identifying and cleaning up hazardous waste sites. ATSDR’s public health assessments refer to evaluations of hazardous exposures. These assessments are searchable by keyword and browsable by state. The relevance to food safety includes information about dioxins, toxic substances in fish and shellfish, and other information. AGRICOLA <https://agricola.nal.usda.gov/>;
The National Agricultural Library (NAL) in Beltsville, Maryland, provides access to AGRICOLA, an article citation database that indexes journal articles, book chapters, short reports, and reprints. NAL’s
Web-based catalog of can be searched at the same time as AGRICOLA. AgView.com <https://www.agview.com/>;
Developed in 1996, this search interface locates data, information, and resources related to agriculture. Search results are annotated. Subject categories include agriculture, crop production, food science, biotechnology, organic farming, weather, and more. Ask the Nutrition Expert <https://www.cce.cornell.edu/food/>;
Cornell University’s Cooperative Extension Food and Nutrition focuses on “research-based information for consumers, educators and other professionals in the areas of food, nutrition and health, and food safety.” Nutrition professionals are invited to ask a nutrition expert questions related to a featured topic. Past topics have included dietary reference intakes, lead exposure, plant estrogens, and antioxidants. Can Your Kitchen Pass the Food Safety Test? <https://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/895_kitchen.html>;
The FDA developed this simple test to determine whether a home kitchen follows safe food practices. The information was originally published in a 1995 issue of FDA Consumer but has been updated several times since then. Combined Health Information Database (CHID) <https://chid.nih.gov/>;
CHID is a bibliographic database that combines the consumer health efforts of U.S. government agencies. Typical search results yield bibliographic citations to consumer health publications available from a variety of sources. Compendium of Food Additive Specifications <https://apps3.fao.org/jecfa/additive_specs/foodad-q.jsp>;
The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) developed this database of food additives (other than flavors). FAO is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the World Health Organization (WHO). The content is available in Arabic,
French, Spanish, and Entries can be searched by substance name, System (INS) number, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number, functional use group (antioxidants, emulsifiers, stabilizers, etc.), purity group (cadmium, lead, arsenic, etc.), and food additives designated as tentative. Typical database entries include substance name, synonyms, description, chemical name(s), chemical formula, structural formula, characteristics, method of assay, and more.
