The nutraceutical, or functional food, has now come of age. The revolution in the food industry has created a demand for increasingly innovative and nutritionally valuable foods. As food manufacturers seek to meet this demand, the effective use of hydrocolloids is one of the industry's most significant tools. The Handbook of Hydrocolloids is an invaluable reference for technicians responsible for selecting the correct hydrocolloids for their product requirements. This handbook covers all the major new hydrocolloids used in the food industry, with specialists from around the world providing the most authoritative and current information available. For each hydrcolloid the provides available information such as: Origin and manufacture Chemical structure Functional properties Limitations Technical data Uses and applications Regulatory status Future developments References Scores of glossy brochures lauding company products and their uses may land at your door. While informational, they are no substitute for getting to know the properties of the various available hydrocolloids in an unbiased manner. Convenient and authoritative, The Handbook of Hydrocolloids provides you with a comprehensive resource for over twenty major hydrocolloids used in foods covering their use in food processing, methods of manufacture, and technical data on optimizing use to maximize process efficiency and end product quality.