Life
Subject: QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF ANIMAL-BASED FOODSTUFFS (A.A. 2023/2024)
master degree course in FOOD SAFETY AND CONTROL
| Course year | 1 |
|---|---|
| CFU | 8 |
| Teaching units |
Unit unico
Production and Management studies (lesson)
|
| Exam type | oral |
| Evaluation | final vote |
| Teaching language | Italiano |
Teachers
Overview
In light of the new EU directives regarding food safety and in compliance with consumer demands, the objectives of the course are to provide students with adequate training to allow them knowledges and ability to assess, through pertinent methods, the qualitative characteristics of the main products of animal origin, and to preserve or to ameliorate the quality during the productive process.
Admission requirements
Students must have basic knowledge of chemistry, biochemistry and of the main productive technologies of animal origin products.
Course contents
The credits for each activity of the program, which may vary according to the learning time of the students, will be structured as follows:
General Concepts (1 CFU)
The concept of quality applied to the various products of animal origin. Food safety and self-testing systems. Italian and UE legislation for food hygiene and safety. Quality depending on the destination of the product. Traceability. Effect of production methods, processing and preservation technologies on the quality characteristics of the food of animal origin. Quality certification. Management system of the quality.
Main foods of animal origin (6 CFU)
-Meat (4 CFU): The national control plans (PNR, PNAA). Health inspection in abattoirs. Main parasites, diseases and chemical agents of inspecting interest. Suitability of the meat to the human consumption. Carcass cutting, commercial grading, and cuts valorisation. Post-mortem changes in muscle and conversion into meat. Pre and post-mortem treatments on carcass, cuts and meat quality. Sensory, organoleptic, dietary-nutritional and technological characteristics of the meat of different animal species and main methods for the evaluation. Main defects of meat.
- Animal fats (0.5 CFU): depot localisation, fatty acid composition, analytical methods, variation factors and oxidative stability.
- Milk and by-products (0.5 CFU): composition, nutritional value and evaluation methods.
- Eggs (0.25 CFU): composition, organoleptic-nutritional characteristics, methods of evaluation, commercial classification and traceability.
- Honey (0.25 CFU): chemical composition, dietary-nutritional properties and evaluation methods.
- Fish products and others animal origin foods (0.5 CFU): qualitative characteristics and assessment of the degree of freshness.
Laboratory training and company visits )1 CFU)
Teaching methods
The course is conducted through lectures in the classroom and is supported by slides and photographs complemented by opportunities for discussion with students. We provide seminars by industry experts, educational visits to food industries and laboratory training. The course is held in Italian language, attendance is not compulsory but strongly recommended
Assessment methods
Learning is verified by oral examination on at least three issues treated in the lectures. Is rated the level of knowledge, the ability to integrate knowledge and the ability to communicate in a critical proving to be able to make judgments on specific topics. The exams take place according to the academic calendar and for each session students must register using the Esse3 platform. There are no intermediate evaluations. Evaluation indicators for each topic: - Level of acquired knowledges 40% - Ability to link knowledges across the topics 30% - Communication and critical judgment skills 30%
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students will have acquired the in-depth knowledge of what is meant by quality of food of animal origin from organoleptic and nutritional, technological and food safety point of view, and by the consumer point of view in function of the information it provided. All in accordance with European legislation on food law. The student will also learn how the quality can be affected by the production technologies and how this can be guaranteed and certified. Also, through the lab training and visits to food industries, will have learned the methodologies and known the instruments used to evaluate the quality and will be able to disseminate and apply them practically in different production systems.
Readings
Tantillo G.M., La produzione igienica della carne. Edagricole, Bologna, 2001 (Biblioteca di RE).
Scanziani E., Stella S., Ghisleni ., Manuale di ispezione e controllo delle carni, Seconda edizione,Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, 2018 (Biblioteca di RE).
Testi consigliati per approfondimenti
Lawrie R.A., Lawrie's meat science, 6th edition, Woodhead Publishing Ltd, Cambridge, UK, 1998 (Biblioteca di RE).
Warris P.D., Meat Science An introductory test, CABI Publishing, 2001
Materiale didattico distribuito durante il corso.
Slide del corso disponibili sul sistema Dolly