35309 - Food Safety and Traceability

Learning outcomes

1) Course description and objectives

At the end of the course students will be able to identify the traceability regulations applicable to single food businesses and check their correct application. Students will also be able to analyse a production supply chain identifying its hazards and to design a traceability system for the management of food safety problems in particular in the dairy production chain.

2) Learning outcomes: knowledge and skills

Students must master a correct terminology to express concepts relating to traceability, food safety and food quality. Students must know principles of food safety legislation, food traceability and labeling Students must know hygiene and technology of the dairy products starting from primary production to distribution. The SCC, total bacterial count, freezing point physical, biological and chemical hazard along the dairy chain will be treated; technologies of treatment and cheese making and their critical points for food safety and methods for their control will be explained.

Course contents

The course consists of two modules.

Module 1 involves frontal lessons and practical sessions

a. Frontal lessons

. Students will learn hygiene and technology of the dairy products starting from primary production to distribution. The SCC, total bacterial count, freezing point physical, biological and chemical hazard along the dairy chain will be discussed; technologies of treatment and cheese making and their critical points for food safety and methods for their control will be explained. The aim of frontal lessons is to provide the theoretical basis of food safet in dairy proucts.

b. Practical sessions

Practical work is done mostly in the Faculty’s teaching barn and cheese factory. In detail, the work project involves:

1. Analysis of the main hazards present in the dairy supply chain based on the bibliographic material provided by the course coordinator;

2. Analyse production flows in the Faculty barn and cheese factory and analyse critical points applicable to a specific production;

3. Identify the compulsory tregulations applicable to milk production and processing;

4. Identify the specific traceability regulations of the supply chain under study in relation to the critical points identified.

Student must have their own white coat.

Module 2: Reg. CE 178/2002: in particular articles about general principles and requirements of food safety legislation (EFSA, RASFF, risk analysis, precautionary principle, food and feed safety requirements and traceability).

Basic principles on internal traceability and food chain traceability

EU law on food labelling

Labelling and traceability of bovine meat, pork and egg.

Readings/Bibliography

Module 1: Igiene e tecnologie degli alimenti di origine animale Nuova edizione 2012 di Giampaolo Colavita Le Point Veterinaire Italie

Module 2: It is not necessary to purchase specific textbook.

The course material is available to students in the https://iol.unibo.it [https://iol.unibo.it/] 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

Frontal lessons, team work, didactic visits

Assessment methods

The final examination is designed to assess the achievement of the main learning outcomes of the course: (1) to know the terminology used in food safety and to be able to use it correctly; (2) to know the compulsory general regulations for traceability and how to manage products at risk; (3) to know the specific regulations relating to critical points in the different agri-food supply chains; (4) to be able to analyse the critical points in food production processes and the methods to ensure an effective traceability system.

Two alternatives are available for the final course examination:

a) Three written tests taken in itinere;

b) An in-depth oral examination at the end of the course.

a) Written tests

The three on-going tests are organized in this way:

- Two tests concerning module 1

- One test concerning module 2

The aim of the written tests is to ascertain that the student has an adequate body of knowledge relating to the course contents.

Module 1:two written tests are set at different times during the course with 10 multiple choice questions relating to different parts of the course. Each multiple choice question has three alternatives and only one correct answer. The score can be 0 (zero) or 1 (one). Failure to answer is deemed incorrect. Only questions which 33% of students have answered correctly are included in the final score. If more than 33% of students fail to answer a question correctly the question is cancelled and the relative score assigned to all students: the topic of the question is then repeated in subsequent lessons.

The time allotted for the written test is 20 minutes. During the test students are not allowed to use support material like textbooks, notes or computers.

The score for each written test ranges from 1 to 10. The pass mark for alltwo tests is 12 points out of a possible total of 20.

Module 2: 20 questions are proposed, of which 15 are multiple-choice questions (1 point for correct answer, 0 for no answer and for wrong answer) and 5 open-ended questions (from 1 to 3 points for correct answer, 0 for no answer, -1 for wrong answer). The time available is about 40 minutes. The mark is expressed in tenths and contributes for a third to the final mark.

b) Oral test

Students who did not take written tests in itinere: the oral test (of about 20-30 minutes) is similar to the one above but includes an in-depth examination assessing the theoretical aspects of the course and focuses on at least two course topics.

The assessment will be recorded by Prof. Trevisani

Teaching tools

Teaching material comprises legislation in force, material made available to students through websites and a collection of technical and scientific documents made available by the course coordinator for practical sessions and research; didactic visits to the dairy production facilities of the Faculty.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Serraino

See the website of Teresa Gazzotti