Currently, there is no one book or textbook that covers all aspects of retail food safety. it is becoming apparent that a number of issues relating to retail food safety have come to the forefront in some jurisdictions of late. for example, a recent usda risk assessment has pointed out that issues occurring at usa retail appear to be critical in terms of contamination of deli-meat. as well, a large listeriosis outbreak in quebec pointed to retail cross-contamination as a key issue. in terms of sanitation, a number of advances have been made, but these have not all been synthesized together in one chapter, with a focus on retail. in addition, the whole area of private standards and the global food safety initiative (gfsi) have come to the forefront of late and these as well will be explored in great detail. other aspects related to the safety of important food commodities such as seafood, meat, produce and dairy will also be discussed and salient areas addressed.