79826 - Professional Practical Training in Food Inspection, Control and Certification 1

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Moduli: Alessandra De Cesare (Modulo 1) Teresa Gazzotti (Modulo 2) Federica Giacometti (Modulo 3) Alessandra De Cesare (Modulo 4)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2) Traditional lectures (Modulo 3) Traditional lectures (Modulo 4)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Single cycle degree programme (LMCU) in Veterinary Medicine (cod. 8617)

Learning outcomes

The student (1) applies the standardized protocols for food inspection and the analytical methods followed by veterinary services in official controls in slaughterhouses and food transformation plants; (2) acquires clinical, pathological anatomy, food hygiene and inspection competencies to provide an assessment of food compliance for human consumption; (3) learns how to communicate with operators in the slaughterhouse to manage animal welfare and avoid animal pain during slaughtering; (4) learns official control methods to guarantee food safety to be applied during primary production, transformation and commercialization of foods, including import and export practices; (5) knows how to perform and assess an audit to evaluate the hygienic procedures and hazard mitigation strategies to put in place by food business operator according to national and international regulations concerning sanitary measures in animal productions; (6) knows how to organize a sampling plan for official inspections by veterinary services and how to interpret the analytical results to verify compliance or not compliance of food lots to official regulations.

Course contents

Module 1

National and international regulations addressing hygiene and safety of milk and dairy products will be provided to the student. The student will then develop a HACCP plan for both an industrial and artisanal dairy production taking into account all issues concerning biological and chemical hazards as stated in official legislations.

Module 2 divided into two activities:

- Analysis of health and hygiene problems and application of methods for their resolution

- Execution of screening tests for the control of the presence of antibiotics and inhibiting substances in milk and interpretation of the results

Module 3

Food safety and process hygiene criteria identification for foodstuffs of animal origin (milk and dairy products) and running of microbiological analyses.

The student learns the sampling and microbiological analyses of milk and dairy products and the preparation of an analytical report. A judgment of compliance or not compliance with food safety and process hygiene criteria will be prepared by student based on the obtained microbiological findings.

Module 4

The student learns the different components of quantitative microbiological risk assessment analyzing scientific opinions published by the European Food safety Authority (EFSA).

Readings/Bibliography

National and international regulations on food hygiene and safety of foods of animal origin.

Scientific papers. 

Scientific opinions EFSA. 

Teaching methods

Practical activities. 

Frontal lessons and activities in teams.

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the training execution will be done by:

- Evaluation of work trainers groups: several exercises and activities will be given to students under the guidance of the teacher in accordance with the principles of research based learning; these activities will be subject to an evaluation that will contribute to the score of the final examination of the Course of Inspection, Control and Certification of Food (Referee Prof. Trevsani).

- Frequency evaluation: the frequency to at least 70% of the lessons is required (7 out of 10)

-Level of engagement in the proposed activities. 

Teaching tools

Materials needed for practical activities. 

Videos and webinar available on line

Office hours

See the website of Alessandra De Cesare

See the website of Teresa Gazzotti

See the website of Federica Giacometti

SDGs

Zero hunger Good health and well-being Quality education Responsible consumption and production

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.