FOREWORD

Today, the growing awareness of the close relationship between food and health has increased consumers’ interest in obtaining more detailed information on the quality characteristics of food and food safety, with their clear desire to know everything about the route that our food takes from farm to table. The first step to meet these demands is to make the results of studies on food composition and quality available to consumers and the various stakeholders, and above all easily usable by them.

Food composition data must contain as much information as possible to facilitate more careful choices of the foods that are constituents of our daily diet. In Italy, the Tables of Food Composition produced by INRAN are the main source of such information. What is still lacking, however, is the availability of data on the nutrient composition of foods as we consume them daily. The preparation of food in more complex recipes and its subsequent cooking lead to a modification of its basic composition. There may be a loss in some nutrients caused by heat treatment, or an acquisition of new molecules from ingredients making up the recipe: all this leads to changes in the composition of the food itself, and in its calorie value. Currently this information is not available to consumers or industry specialists for the formulation of balanced diets or special diets.

This book therefore aims to disseminate in a comprehensible and clear, but scientifically precise and accurate way, the results of the scientific activities conducted in the "Quality Food" strategic project, funded by Mipaaf and coordinated by INRAN. We considered it important to carry out a research project which would provide us with extensive - and in some cases unique (e.g. heme iron) - experimental data on the nutrient composition of meat at the time of consumption, i.e. after it has been prepared and cooked with the most commonly used cooking methods in Italy. The book allows you to easily see the composition data of beef (bullock and veal) recipes and preparation methods, typical of the Italian tradition, providing correct information on their macro and micro nutrients, heme iron and cholesterol content and calorie value, derived from laboratory testing performed at INRAN. The book therefore contains all the necessary information for a guide to the formulation of a meticulous diet.

BOOK: "MEAT IN ITALIAN CUISINE"

 Meat in Italian Cuisine