66019 - Certification and Traceability of Food of Animal Origin

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student learns:

• basic principles on European food safety legislation;
• basic principles on internal traceability and food chain traceability;
• principles, terms of certifications management;
• EU law on food labelling.

  In particular the student is able to:

• understand food traceability systems;
• understand and work within certification systems on quality, safety and traceability management in food chain.

Course contents

Introduction to the food safety concept: food biological, chemical and physical hazards and their main sources.

Reg. CE 178/2002: in particular articles about general principles and requirements of food law (EFSA, RASFF, risk analysis, precautionary principle, food and feed safety requirements and traceability).

Basic principles on internal traceability and food chain traceability.

Standard organizations and different certifications.

UNI EN ISO 9001 – Quality management

UNI EN ISO 22000 – Food safety management

UNI EN ISO 22005 – Traceability in the feed and food chain

International standards as BRC and IFS.

EU law on food labelling.

Labelling and traceability of meat, seafood, egg and milk products.

Readings/Bibliography

It is not necessary to purchase specific textbook.

The course material is available to students in the https://iol.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=28183 or via the teacher’s website https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/teresa.gazzotti/didattica.

The latest consolidated versions of the European laws discussed in the program are available on the site https://eur-lex.europa.eu/

Teaching methods

Oral lectures.

Active learning and group work under tutorial supervision

Guided tours in food companies or follow-up meeting with experts in the field

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the student consists in two voluntary on-going tests and a final oral test.

The objective of the on-going tests is to enable students to check their level of knowledge and to highlight the potential gaps to be filled. The on-going tests do not limit the admission to the oral examination, but they are considered for the grade evaluation. In the first on-going test 30 questions are proposed, of which 20 are multiple-choice questions (1 point for correct answer, 0 for no answer, -0.5 for wrong answer) and 10 open-ended questions (from 1 to 3 points for correct answer, 0 for no answer, -1 for wrong answer). The time available is one hour. The mark is expressed in thirtieths and contributes for a third to the final mark.

The second on-going test consists of a group work through which the ability to critically investigate a given topic and the capacity for exposure using an appropriate terminology ares evaluated. The mark is given to the group and the teacher forms the groups. The mark is expressed in thirtieths and contributes for a fifth to the final mark.

The oral exam consists of questions on three topics developed during the course and has an average duration of about 25-30 minutes in case the on-going tests have not been done. The time and topics covered during the oral exam will be reduced if the on-going tests have been done.

During the exam is not allowed the use of any support material, such as textbooks, notes, notebooks and other electronic devices.

The course “Certification and traceability of food of animal origin” is part of the integrated course “Food Safety” together with the course “Toxicology of Residues in Food-Producing Animals and their Products”; for this reason, the final mark will be calculated on weighted average of each course’s mark.

Teaching tools

Projector and personal computer

Office hours

See the website of Teresa Gazzotti