The use of polymers in foods is widespread and is a major thrust in the food and the specialty chemical industries. Teh goal of the International Symposium "Application of Polymers in Foods" held at Dallas, Texas, on March 31 - April 2, 1998 was to bring together many leading researchers in this area in order to promote collaborations and to furnish a valuable update of this area from different perspectives. This book contains most of the contributions from this ACS symposium and four talks from an NMR mini-symposium. It should be a very useful and timely reference for people working in this area.