Archive-Name: sci/food-science-faq/part1
Posting-Frequency: biweekly
Last-modified: 2012/08/11
FAQ - SCI.BIO.FOOD.SCIENCE Frequently-Asked Questions (1 of 3)
My name and email address is:
Paul King, Educator, Faq Maintainer, <mailto://sci...@vex.net>
I share credit for this FAQ with Rachel Zemser and Ralph Blanchfield;
although over the years I have assumed, de facto, sole maintenance of
this FAQ. Please send any comments and suggestions my way, and I will
try to deal with it in a timely manner.
For a glossary of scientific, marketing, industry, technical and legal
terms of relevance to food science, see FAQ 2 of 3. For a list of common
questions and answers about food and food science, see FAQ 3 of 3.
- Paul King
FAQ 1/3- SCI.BIO.FOOD-SCIENCE Frequently-Asked Questions
*************************************************************************** **
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
The original versions of this FAQ up until about 2004 been brought to
you
by:
Rachel Zemser, creator of the newsgroup sci.bio.food-science.
J Ralph Blanchfield,
Food Science, Food Technology & Food Law Consultant, Chair, IFST
Member Relations & Services Committee and Web Editor, IFST Web on
the WWW
Paul King, Creator and Maintainer of the List of Common
Abbreviations (sci...@vex.net)
This document has been created to answer questions about Food
Science and the newsgroup sci.bio.food-science. This document
contains five Parts, formatted in three Files.
FILE 1/3
I. Guidelines for posting in sci.bio.food-science
II. A list of Food Science related Web Sites
III. A list of common abbreviations
FILE 2/3
IV. Food Science Definitions and Interpretations that have
been prepared by a joint working group of the Institute
of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and the UK Association
of Public Analysts (APA)
FILE 3/3
V. Frequently Asked Questions About Food Science and Technology
that have been prepared by the Institute of Food Science &
Technology (IFST), the professional qualifying body for food
scientists and technologists; a UK-based body with
international interests.
<WWW address http://www.easynet.co.uk/ifst/>
I. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR POSTING IN SCI.BIO.FOOD-SCIENCE
The goals of this newsgroup are:
1. To discuss topics and issues related to food chemistry,
food microbiology, food engineering/processing, food biotechnology,
dairy science, agriculture, fermentation, nutrition, toxicology,
agribusiness, sensory science, and food safety.
2. To share experimental methods and improved teaching
techniques.
3. To announce job vacancies for food science and technology
professionals in all relevant fields.
4. To provide an opportunity for food science and technology
professionals to post resumes of up to 500 words.
5. To make available, and answer questions about, abstracts
of papers for publication or presentations.
6. To announce professional meetings, conferences, courses,
events, etc., world wide
7. To discuss general areas of interest inside food science
and technology.
8. Postings are welcome from food science and technology
professionals, as well as from any others seeking advice or
information on these subjects. No posting may offer for sale or hire,
or request payment for, goods, services or information
Please make sure that your post is related to the above goals
of the newsgroup. There are lots of other food related newsgroups and
some of them may be better for your post. Some of these groups are:
sci.med.nutrition, rec.food.preserving, rec.food.cooking,
rec.food.recipes, alt.food.wine, alt.food.fat-free,
rec.food-veg, rec.food.veg.cooking, alt.support.diet
II. A LIST OF FOOD SCIENCE RELATED WEB SITES
The following is a list of food science related web sites. Some
of these may be of interest to food scientists reading this group.
This list has been created in an effort to bring food scientists
closer together on the internet. If you find a site that is not
mentioned in this list please email Paul King at <sciguy "at" vex
dot net> or Ralph Blanchfield at <jralphb "at" easynet dot co dot uk>
1.ACADEMIC SITES -
There are many food science/edu web pages. This list does not
include every one. However, from these sites, one can link to many
more food science/academic related sites. This list will be updated
on a regular basis. Though the list is alphebetized, the words
'University' or 'University of' will be ignored in the
alphabetisation.
Not all sites have been tested for dead links. Most of them should work.
Some sites are mobile within their domains, and it is better to use the
search feature on the respective website.
AUSTRAILIA
Queensland University: http://www.uq.edu.au/lafs/
University of Ballarat: http://bit.ly/bOZkGe
University of Melbourne: http://www.foodscience.unimelb.edu.au/
AUSTRIA
Graz Univ of Technology, Div of Fd Chem: http://bit.ly/9ELY8t
BOKU FS and Biotech: http://www.boku.ac.at/1341.html
CANADA
Acadia University: http://ace.acadiau.ca/science/NUTR/Home.htm
University of Alberta: http://www.afns.ales.ualberta.ca/
University of British Colombia: http://www.landfood.ubc.ca/
Dalhousie University Food Sci and Tech: http://foodscience.engineering.dal.ca
University of Guelph: http://www.uoguelph.ca/foodscience/
University of Manitoba: http://www.umanitoba.ca/afs/food_science/
McGill University: http://www.mcgill.ca/foodscience/
Memorial University (MUN) Aquaculture program: http://www.mun.ca/biochem/
University of Saskatchewan: http://tinyurl.com/9v2at4k
DENMARK
University of Copenhagen: http://www.life.ku.dk/english.aspx
FINLAND
University of Helsinki: http://www.mm.helsinki.fi/vfs/
GERMANY
University of Karlruhe: http://www.iab.kit.edu/
Technical University of Munich: http://www.tum.de/
GREECE
Agricultural University of Athens: http://www.aua.gr/gr/dep/tex/
IRELAND
University College: http://www.ucd.ie/agfoodvet/
ITALY
Bologna University: http://www.foodsci.unibo.it/
University of Milan: http://www.agraria.unimi.it/english.htm
THE NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND)
Wageningen University: http://www.food-info.net/wageningen.htm
NEW ZEALAND
University of Auckland: http://www.che.auckland.ac.nz/Food/
Lincoln University: http://bit.ly/9RuoQK
Massey University: http://food.massey.ac.nz/
University of New South Wales: http://bit.ly/9c2KrH
University of Otago: http://www.otago.ac.nz/foodscience/
NORTHERN IRELAND
Queen's University: http://bit.ly/bJqIGH
SPAIN
University of Lleida: http://www.etsea.udl.es/eng/
Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology: http://www.iata.csic.es/
SWEDEN
Lund University (Food Engineering): http://www.food.lth.se/english
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: http://www.lmv.slu.se/
SWITZERLAND
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology: http://www.ilw.agrl.ethz.ch/
UNITED KINGDOM
University of Huddersfield: http://bit.ly/9hKXU3
University of Leeds: http://www.food.leeds.ac.uk/default.htm
Manchester Metropolitan University: http://tinyurl.com/2x2uf4
University of Nottingham:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/biosciences/foodsci/
University of Reading: http://www.fst.rdg.ac.uk/
University of Strathclyde: http://bit.ly/bVgxO0
University of Surrey: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/SBMS/nutrition/
UNITED STATES
Arizona University: http://cals.arizona.edu/main/
Brigham Young University: http://ndfs.byu.edu/
California Polytechnical University: http://foods.calpoly.edu/
Clemson University: http://www.clemson.edu/foodscience/
University of California at Davis: http://www-foodsci.ucdavis.edu
University of Colorado: http://tinyurl.com/3bwvw8
Cornell University: http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/cifs/
University of Delaware: http://ag.udel.edu/anfs/
University of Florida: http://fshn.ifas.ufl.edu/
University of Georgia: http://www.caes.uga.edu/
University of Idaho: http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/fst/
University of Illinois: http://www.fshn.uiuc.edu/
Kansas State University: http://foodsci.k-state.edu/
University of Kentucky: http://tinyurl.com/2y25te
Louisiana State University: http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/foodscience/
University of Maine: http://www.fsn.umaine.edu/
University of Maryland: http://www.agnr.umd.edu/
University of Massachusetts: http://www.umass.edu/foodsci/
Michigan State University: http://fshn.msu.edu/
Mississippi State University: http://www.fsnhp.msstate.edu/
University of Missouri: http://tinyurl.com/2mnjd6
University of Nebraska: http://foodsci.unl.edu/
North Dakota State University: http://tinyurl.com/22ne84
Oklahoma State Animal Sciences: http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/
Ohio State University: http://www-fst.ag.ohio-state.edu
Oregon State University: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/foodsci/
Penn State University: http://foodscience.psu.edu/
Purdue University: http://www.foodsci.purdue.edu
University of Rhode Island: http://cels.uri.edu/nfs/
Rutgers University: http://foodsci.rutgers.edu/
University of Tennessee: http://foodscience.tennessee.edu/
Texas A&M FS and Engineering: http://ifse.tamu.edu/
University of Wisconsin: http://www2.uwrf.edu/afs-all/
Virginia Tech: http://www.fst.vt.edu/
Washington State University: http://av.fshn.wsu.edu/
Wayne State University: http://www.clas.wayne.edu/NFS/
2.GENERAL WEB SITES RELATING TO FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
ACCESSING THIS FAQ THRU THE WEB VIA GOOGLE GROUPS OR
SUNSITE.ORG.UK: By entering the complete name of this newsgroup on
a web search form at Google Groups <http://groups.google.com/>,
you may access all past postings in this (or any) newsgroup. The
listings of the postings will be in reverse chronological order.
Where you see the subject line of this FAQ, follow that link, and
the result is a copy of our FAQ, but with a differnce: All of the
web links mentioned in FAQ 1/1 become LIVE web links. Thus, if you
access this FAQ posting via DejaNews, all of the links mentioned below
become live links which can be followed to academic, commercial, or
government sites worldwide. The same is true on any other posting where
a user may make a passing mention of a web site.
The official place of the most up-to-date FAQ is stored at MIT:
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/bio/food-science/>
It is better than DejaNews in that the FAQ is in the three parts that
we had intended; you need not press any icons for the next screenful
of text; and any mentioned links are still live, meaning you can use
their copy of our FAQ on Netscape to jump to an y site on the
internet that we have listed. This service is provided to us via the
University of Oxford. DejaNews can still be useful to look at past
postings.
This list will also be updated from time to time.
Agriculture and Agri-Food (Gov't of Canada): http://aceis.agr.ca/
American Association of Cereal Chemists: http://www.aaccnet.org/
Australian Institute of FS and Technology: http://www.aifst.asn.au/
Food Science Australia: http://www.foodscience.csiro.au/
Beer Info Source: http://www.beerinfo.com/
BUBL Food Science Links: http://bubl.ac.uk/link/f/foodscience.htm
Burnaby Cook-Chill Production Center:
http//www.infinity.ca/foodinfoburnaby/
Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology: http://www.cifst.ca/
Teach Nutrition (Ontario, Canada): http://www.teachnutrition.org/
CanWine: http://canwine.blogspot.com
Center For Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/
Center for FS and Nutrition Research: http://cati.csufresno.edu/cfsnr/
Center for Science in the Public Interest: http://www.cspinet.org
Chemistry & Industry Magazine: http://bit.ly/bxR875
Code of Federal Regulations: http://tinyurl.com/33nq5
Codex Alimentarius: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/
Consumer Information Center: http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/food.htm
Culinary Arts and FS Career Guide: http://www.khake.com/page30.html
Dairy Science and Food Technology website: http://www.dairyscience.info
Dept. Of Ag and Rural Development (N. Ireland): http://www.afsni.ac.uk/
Ed Blonz's FS site list: http://blonz.com/
FDA: http://www.fda.gov/
FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition:
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/
Federal Trade Commission (USA): http://www.ftc.gov
Food and Ag Policy Research Institute: http://tinyurl.com/ypxpv3
Food and Nutrition Information Center: http://www.nalusda.gov/fnic
Food Chemical News Homepage: http://bit.ly/cHBsfF
"Food Dude" browser (USA): http://www.fooddude.com/
Food Engineering - R. Paul Singh: http://rpaulsingh.com/
Food Law Page: http://www.foodlaw.org/
Foodnet (Canada): http://foodnet.fic.ca/
Food Navigator: http://www.foodnavigator.com/
Food Science Australia: http://www.foodscience.afisc.csiro.au/
Food Science and Technology International (Journal):
http://fst.sagepub.com/
Food Science Central: http://www.ifis.org/
Food Science FAQ on HTML: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/sci/food-science-faq/
Food Science Jobs: http://foodscience.com/
Garden State Labs HACCP Page: http://www.gslabs.com/haccp.html
Google Groups: http://groups.google.com/
The Gopher Hole: Talking Food: http://www.internet-gopher.com/foodtalk/
IFIC Foundation: http://www.ific.org/
IFT Journal of Food Science: http://tinyurl.com/25bc4j
Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST): http://www.ifst.org/
Integrated Crop Management: http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/
International Food Data Systems Project (FAO):
http://www.fao.org/infoods/
Institute of Food Research: http://www.infrn.bbsrc.ac.uk/
Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST): http://www.ifst.org/
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT): http://www.ift.org
International Food Information Council: http://www.foodinsight.org/
Leatherhead Food Research Association: http://www.lfra.co.uk/
Maize Genome Database: http://www.maizegdb.org/
Morbidity and Mortality Reports: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
National Science Teacher's Association: http://www.nsta.org/
National Food Safety Database: http://foodsafety.ifas.ufl.edu/
National Council Against Health Fraud: http://www.ncahf.org/
New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research: http://www.crop.cri.nz/
New Zealand Institute of FS and Technology: http://www.nzifst.org.nz/
Nutrient Database: http://www.nutribase.com/
Post-Harvest Links (FS and Food Safety): http://tinyurl.com/27lyk2
Sean Doyle's Food Science Page: http://homepage.eircom.net/~foodsci/
Singapore Institute of FS&T: http://www.sifst.org.sg/
Society of Chemical Industry: http://www.soci.org/
SoyBean Site, the Illinois Soybean Association: http://www.ilsoy.org/
Soybeans: http://www.stratsoy.uiuc.edu/
World of Food Science (IFT and IUFoST): http://www.worldfoodscience.org/
Tufts University Nutrition Navigator: http://navigator.tufts.edu/
USDA Home Page: http://www.usda.gov/
USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/
USDA Food Composition Tables: http://bit.ly/G6u1j
USDA Nutrient Values of Foods: http://cgi.fatfree.com/usda/
USFDA HACCP Page: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/haccp.html
US National Center for Health Statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
Veggies Unite: http://www.vegweb.com
The Snack food Association: http://www.sfa.org/
3.FOOD COMPANIES
Campbell Soup Company: <http://www.campbellsoups.com/>
Dole 5 A Day <http://www.dole5aday.com/>
Frito-Lay <http://www.fritolay.com>
Gerber Baby food: <http://www.gerber.com/>
Hershey: <http://www.hersheys.com/>
Kellogs: <http://www.kelloggs.com/>
Mars' M&Ms Homepage <http://www.baking.m-ms.com>
McCormick and Co. <http://www.McCormick.com>
Monsanto: <http://www.monsanto.com>
Nabisco: <http://www.nabisco.com/>
Quaker Oats: <http://www.quakeroats.com>
NutraSweet: <http://www.nutrasweet.com/>
* If anyone knows of any other web sites, email: Paul King at
sci...@vex.net
4. FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RELATED MAILING LISTS-
BEEF-L: A mailing list and discussion group for beef specialists
in university, government and commercial activities.
<mailto://listp...@listproc.wsu.edu>
CANWINE: is an unmoderated mail discussion group formed to look
at the whole spectrum of Canadian wines and the Canadian wine
industry. To subscribe to CANWINE, send the message (no subject
line): subscribe canwine to: <mailto://canwine-requ...@his.com>
CHAPHALL: The Chappel-Hall Books mailing list. Chappell-Hall is
a publishing company that publishes food science books, among others.
Send an email with the message "subscribe chaphall-fst [your email
address]" to: <mailto://majord...@list.chaphall.com>
example: subscribe chaphall-fst pk...@idirect.com
DNH-PILOT The Diet, Nutrition and Health project mailing list
covers sociology, food science and technology, agricultural economics
and psychology. Researchers in academic institutions across the
European Union, hopefully together with industrial partners and with
some external funding, are involved. To subscribe send email to:
<mailto://dnh-pilot-requ...@mailbase.ac.uk>
FDMKTNEWS-MG Once a month you get a short summary of prices and
availability of foods in the US. Sometimes, comments on new
regulations, etc. Send email to: alma...@oes.orst.edu, with the
message: subscribe fdmktmews-mg Food-for-thought ] This list is
primarily intended as a forum for discussions on all aspects of food
and eating across different disciplines. The list also provides a
bulletin board for notices of meetings, employment opportunities, new
publications etc. <mailto://mailb...@mailbase.ac.uk>
FISH: To subscribe to the Fish Mailing List, send email to
<mailto://majord...@angsana.ncs.com.sg> with one of the following
commands in the body of the message. You may leave the subject line
blank. To subscribe to the Fish Mailing List enter "subscribe fish"
(excl using quotes) in the body of your email to them. For a list of
other commands and subscription options enter: "help" in the body of
your email. If your mailer adds a signature, then you need to include
the word "end" at the last line of your message body . Commands in
the Subject line are NOT processed.
<mailto://majord...@angsana.ncs.com.sg>
FOOD-COMP: This is a list dealing with food composition and data:
Subscription (handled manually)
<mailto://food-comp-requ...@infoods.unu.edu>
Articles: <mailto://food-c...@infoods.unu.edu>
FOODENG A list for discussion and announcements on food
engineering topics and events.
Subscription (automatic): <mailto://listp...@ucdavis.edu>
with the body of message reading only: "SUBSCRIBE FOODENG yourname".
Articles: <mailto://food...@ucdavis.edu>
FOOD-FOR-THOUGHT is a forum for discussion on all aspects of
food, and a bulletin board for relevant announcements. Send articles to:
<mailto://food-for-thou...@mailbase.ac.uk>
Subscription (automatic): <mailto://mailb...@mailbase.ac.uk>
with the body of message containing only:
"JOIN FOOD_FOR-THOUGHT yourname"
FOOD-LAW : to discuss latest developments in food law and
regulatory issues and to share course outlines and curricula. The
subscribe instructions are: "send the comand: "subscribe food-law
<your name>" as the only text of an e-mail message to
<mailto://listserv@lists...@vm1.spcs.umn.edu>
Articles: <mailto://food-...@vm1.spcs.umn.edu>
FOODSAFE This is a mailing list and discussion group for food safety
specialists in city, county and other settings. Food safety alerts
are posted to this list when appropriate. The subscribe instructions
are: send the command: "subscribe foodsafe yourname youremail" as the
body of your e-mail message to: <mailto://majord...@nal.usda.gov>
Articles (Members only): <mailto://foods...@nal.usda.gov>
FOODWINE Designed to facilitate discussion among those seriously
interested in the academic study of food and its accompaniments.
Send a subscription request to:
<mailto://lists...@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu>
J-FOOD-L Discussion of Japanese food, exchange of recipes.
<mailto://listserv%jpnknu01.bit...@pucc.princeton.edu>
OZWINE Wines of Australia and New Zealand. To subscribe to
OZWINE, please send the following command in the body of your email
letter to <mailto://MAI...@KOALA.CS.COWAN.EDU.AU>
With "subscribe ozwine <your name>" being the only text of your email.
IFT : This is intended for IFT Food Science Communicators and
other food scientists and technologists approved by the group. Its
purpose is to permit very rapid dialogue on fast-breaking public and
media issues affecting the food science and technology profession.
<mailto://...@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
FOODSCI. This is a closed list, restricted to academic food
science administrators (department chairs, heads, deans or
directors). Only they may subscribe (and hence receive e-mails), but
anyone can post to it. It is intended to enable a single notice to be
sent to them all simultaneously.
<mailto://food...@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
FOOD & NUTRITION SPECIALISTS: <mailto://fnspec...@ecn.purdue.edu>
NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY: <mailto://nut...@db0tuill.bitnet>
III. A LIST OF COMMON ABBREVIATIONS
It is not expected that you know and use all of the
abbreviations
listed below. This list should be used as a reference in the event you
come across abbreviations that confuse you, or can't remember.
They include names of organisations, scientific abbreviations, and
common chemical symbols, derived largely from the Merck Index.
References given in braces {}. Where {Stryer} appears, refer to
Lubert Stryer's _Biochemistry, _ 2nd Edition (Freeman). Where no
reference appears the shorthand is suggested by the author. For
suggestions and additions email to <pk...@idirect.com>. For brevity all
except the most common organic compounds are left out. Also left out are
most of the units of measurement; both metric and Imperial.
Also not included on this list are the generic abbreviations for
the Internet, such as BTW, IMHO, or RTFM. You can get those in
newsgroups of the "news.*" hierarchy, notably news.answers,
news.announce.newusers, and for further help on these and other matters
having strictly to do with the internet, post your queries to:
news.newusers.questions.
ON SUPERSCRIPTS AND SUBSCRIPTS: There has been some concern in the
past on the matter of the transmission of superscripts and subscripts
over the Internet. Since we are all limited to the ASCII character set,
one cannot easily change typeface or fonts in a way that would be
transmittable in the bodies of email messages or news messages. A case
in point is the variable which reports the "heat effect" or
"sterilisation effect" of a thermal process, called F. F is usually
reported in the context of two other variables, z (the change in
temperature needed for a tenfold increase in the amount of bacterial
spores killed), and T (the core temperature of the can). In normal
circumstances, we would write F with z as the superscript and T as the
subscript. If we followed the old conventions used in this FAQ for
reporting F, we would have to write: F^z_T, which appears illegible.
Instead, we suggest a new convention which will make things clear for
everyone. Report your variable with your parameters "spelled out" in
parentheses. For example: F(z=10 degC; T=121.1 degC). Since the ASCII
character set also has no "degree" symbol, these have to be "spelled
out" as well. The abbreviation for "degrees Celsius" was taken from the
list below.
^ Exponent (as in 6.022x10^23, i^(-1/2), e^k)
_ Subscript (as in E_p (potential energy))
/ Fraction (as in 1/2); as below to separate abbreviations
(as in UDP/UMP/UTP); per (as in km/h)
~ Approximately equal to; proportional to
= Equal to
!= Not equal to {C++ programming convention}
== Equivalent {C++ programming convention}
!== Not equivalent
> Greater than
>> Much greater than
< Less than (the Pac Man always eats the larger value :-)
<< Much smaller than
>= Greater than or equal {programming convention}
<= Less than or equal {programming convention}
+/- Plus or minus (note the special use of the slash)
|| Parallel
! Factorial
@ At (as in "500g of lettuce @ $0.45/kilogram")
* or x Multiplication
A Adenine; Adenosine; absorbance (extinction) {Merck}; The
conjugate acid of an acid-base pair
Ac Acetyl; Acetic {Merck}
AcOAc Anhydrous Acetic Acid
AcOH Acetic Acid {Merck}
AcOEt Ethyl Acetate {Merck}
Acetyl CoA Acetyl coenzyme A
AcylSCoA Acyl coenzyme A
ACS American Chemical Society {Merck}
ADP Adenosine diphosphate
AIFST Australian Institute of Food Science & Technology
alc Alcohol(ic); Ethanol; Ethyl Alcohol {Merck}
alk Alkali(ne)
AMP Adenosine Monophosphate
amt(s) Amount(s) {Merck}
aq aqueous
ATCC American Type Culture Collection
atm atmospheres; atmoshperic
ATP Adenosine triphosphate
ATPase Adenosine triphosphatase
AW Atomic weight
Aw Water activity
B Asparagine or aspartic acid {Stryer}; The conjugate base of
an acid-base pair
BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK)
bp Base pair; boiling point; boils; boils at; boiling
at <temp> {Merck}
BP British Pharmacopeia {Merck}
BPC British Pharmaceutical Codex {Merck}
BOD Biochemical oxygen demand {Merck}
BSA Bovine Serum Albumin
BSE Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Btu British thermal units
Bu Butyl
cal Calorie(s)
calc Calculate(d) {Merck}
cAMP Cyclic AMP
cc Cubic centimeter (milliliter)
CDP Cytidine 5'-diphosphate
cf Compare (confer) {Merck}
cGMP Cyclic GMP
CHO Carbohydrate
CI Color Index (British) {Merck}
Ci Curie {Merck}
CIFST Canadian Institute of Food Science & Technology
CMC Carboxymethylcellulose {cf Merck: CM-cellulose}
CMP Cytidine 5'-monophosphate
CNS Central Nervous system
CoA/CoASH Coenzyme A
Conc Concentrated; Concentration {cf Merck: concn}
Cp Heat capacity, constant pressure
CP Chemically pure {Merck}
cpd Compound; critical-point drying
CTP Cytidine 5'-triphosphate
Cv Heat capacity, constant volume
d Density {Merck}
d- dextrorotatory {Merck}
D12 12th Decimal Reduction
deg Degree(s)
degC Degrees Celcius
degF Degrees Fahrenheit
degK degrees Kelvin
degR degrees Roentgen
deriv Derivative
DFO Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada)
dil Dilute(d) {Merck}
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNAase Deoxyribonuclease
DMSO Dimethylsulfoxide
dp Degree of polymerisation
ds Double stranded
E Glutamic Acid {Stryer}; Exponent (as in 6.022x10E23)(see
also the entry for ^ )
(E)- Entgen (German for opposite) in naming cpds
ECSAFoST East, Central and Southern African Federation of Food
Science & Technology
ed Edition {Merck}; editor
eds Editors {Merck}; editions
ED Effective dose
EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Also: Edathamil
Edetic acid; and Versene Acid. {Merck}
EFFST European Federation for Food Science & Technology
eg For example (exempli gratia) {Merck}
ELISA Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
EPA Environmental Protection Agency (of the United States)
eq/eqn Equation {Merck}
equilib Equilibrium {Merck}
equiv Equivalent
Et- Ethyl
et al And others (et alii) {Merck}
EtOH Ethanol; Ethyl Alcohol
evap Evaporated; evaporation {cf. Merck: evapn}
EU European Union (was the European Common Market)
F The Sterilisation Effect (see notes above on scripting)
FAC Food Advisory Committee (of the United Kingdom)
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation (of the United Nations)
FAQ Frequently-asked question file (this file)
fd Freeze-dried; Freeze-drying
FDA Food and Drug Administration (of the US; also USFDA)
FD&C The US Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act {Merck}
ff Pages following (as in "see page 23, ff")
FIFSTA Federation of Institutes of Food Science & Technology of ASEAN
fp Freezing Point
FP Flavoprotein
FS Food Science
FT Fourier Transform(ation)
G1P Glucose phosphate
G3P Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
G6P Glucose-6-phosphate
GABA Gamma aminobutyric Acid
GC Gas chromatography/ Gas Chromatograph
GDP Guanosine-5'-Diphosphate
gi Gastrointestinal (tract)
GlcA Gluconic Acid {Merck}
GMP Guanosine-5'-Monophosphate (guanylic acid) {Merck}; Good
Manufacturing Practice
GTP Guanosine-5'-Triphosphate
HACCP Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
HAZOP Hazard and Operability Studies
Hb Hemoglobin
HbCO Carbon Monoxide Haemoglobin
HbO2 Oxyhaemoglobin
HDL High-density lipoprotein
HPLC High-Pressure (performance, power)Liquid Chromatography {Merck}
HSA Human Serum Albumin
HWC Health and Welfare Canada
IARC International Agency for Research on Cancer {Merck}
ICC Interstate Commerce Commission (USA) {Merck}
IDP Inosine-5'-diphosphate {Merck}
ie That is; that is to say (id est) {Merck}
IEF Isoelectric Focusing {Merck}
IFIC International Food Information Council
IFSTI Institute of Food Science & Technology of Ireland
IFST Institute of Food Science and Technology
ig Intragastric
IMP Inosine-5'-monophosphate {Merck}
incl Including {Merck}; included
inorg Inorganic
insol Insoluble
IR Infra-red
ISO Internal Organisation for Standardisation {Merck}
ISO 9000 An extension of GMP (which see) and TQM (which see),
expanded to an internationally recognised set of quality
control standards through improved documentation systems.
ITP Inosine-5'-triphosphate {Merck}
IU International Unit
IUC International Union of Chemistry {Merck}
IUFoST International Union of Food Science & Technology
IUPAC International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
iv Intravenous
J Joule(s)
l- levorotatory
LC Lethal Concentration {Merck}
LC50 LC for 50% of animals tested
LD Lethal Dose {Merck}
LD50 LD for 50% of animals tested
LDL Low-Density lipoproteins
log Common logarithm (Base 10)
logn Base n logarithm, where n is a base number (as in log2)
loi Limit of impurities {Merck}
ln Natural logarithm
LPS Lipopolysaccharide
MAC Maximum allowable Concentration {Merck}
MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (of the UK)
max Maximum; maxima {Merck}
Mb Myoglobin
MbO2 Oxymyoglobin {Merck}
MCA Manufacturing Chemists Association (USA)
mcg Microgram
mCi Millicurie
Me/Met Methyl
MetOH/MeOH Methanol; methyl alcohol
mfg/mfr Manufacture; manufacturing {Merck}
min Minimum; minutes
MLD Minimum lethal dose
MO Microorganism; Molecular Orbital
MOA Ministry of Agriculture (Canada)
MOEE Ministry of Environment and Energy (Canada)
mp Melting point
ms- Meso (internally compensated) {Merck}
MS Mass spectrometry
mw Molecular weight
n The Omega carbon (as in n-6 for "omega-6"); Avogandro's
number; number of moles (as in PV=nRT).
NAD+/NADH Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (reduced)
NADP/NADPH Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced)
NBS National Bureau of Standards (USA)
NCAHF National Council Against Health Fraud (USA)
NCTC National Collection of Type Cultures (USA)
NDP/NMP/NTP N-5'-mono/di/triphosphate, where N is any nucleoside
ng Nanogram
NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health {Merck}
nm Nanometers
NMR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
NRDC National Research Development Corporation (USA) {Merck}
NSAID Non-Steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs {Merck}
NSC National Service Center (USA) {Merck}
NSERC National Science and Engineering Research Council (Canada)
NSF National Science Foundation (USA)
NZIFST New Zealand Institute of Food Science & Technology
o- Ortho
O Oxygen; denoting attachment to an oxygen atom {Merck}
OAA Oxaloacetate
OD Optical density
OSHA Occupational Health and Safety Act (USA) {Merck}
OsM Osmolar
p- Para
Pa Pascal
PABA Para-Aminobenzoic Acid
PAGE Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
pH The negative base-10 log of the H+ concentration
pK The negative base-10 logarithm of the equilibrium constant,
K, for the reaction in question.
ppb Parts per billion
ppm Parts per million
ppt Precipitate(d)
Pr n-Propyl
Q Glutamine {Stryer}; Coenzyme Q (ubiquinone)
QA Quality Assurance
QC Quality Control
qv which see (quod vide) {Merck}
R Arginine {Stryer}; Universal gas constant; alkyl group {Merck}
(R)- Rectus (Right) (naming groups around a central carbon) {Merck}
RIST Radioimmunosorbent test {Merck}
RNA Ribonucleic acid
hnRNA Heterogenous nuclear RNA
mRNA Messenger RNA
nRNA Nuclear RNA
rRNA Ribosomal RNA
snRNA Small Nuclear RNA
tRNA Transfer (soluble) RNA
RNase Ribonuclease
RNI Recommended Nutrient Intakes for Canadians
RTECS Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances
s- symmetrical
S Serine {Stryer}; Sulfur; denoting attachment to S
(S)- Sinister (left) (Opposite of R) {Merck}
sc Subcutaneous
SDS Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate
sec Seconds
sec- Secondary; attachment to secondary carbon
sg/sp gr Specific gravity
SI International System of Units
sol Soluble; solubility
ss Single stranded
STP Standard Temperature and Pressure
sym- Symmetrical
T Threonine {Stryer}; Temperature
T(1/2) Half-life
TDP/TMP/TTP Thymidine di/mono/triphosphate {Merck}
TDT Thermal death time (for MO's (which see))
temp Temperature
tert- Tertiary; denoting attachment to tertiary carbon
Tris tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane
TQM Total-Quality Management
UDP/UMP/UTP Uridine di/mono/triphosphate
UKFFoST UK Federation for Food Science and Technology
USD United States Dispensatory {Merck}
USDA United States Department of Agriculture {Merck}
USFDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (also FDA)
USP United States Pharmacopeia {Merck}
uv Ultraviolet
v Volume; volt(s)
VLDL Very Low-Density Lipoproteins
vol Volume
vs Versus
v/v % Volume in volume {Merck}
WHO World Health Organisation (United Nations)
wt weight
w/v % Weight in volume {Merck}
w/w % Weight in weight {Merck}
Z Glutamine or glutamic acid {Stryer}; Z-Value - the change
in temperature needed to change TDT by a factor of 10.
(Z)- Zusammen (German for together) - or "Zame Zide" from my
organic chemistry days :-) {Merck}
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Paul E. J. King
FAQ Archive Maintainer
rtfm.mit.edu
