FHM-30306 Food Safety Risk Assessment

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

TOX-30306 Food Toxicology; FHM-22306 Advanced Food Microbiology.

Continuation courses:

FHM-61312 Food Safety Management; Thesis FHM.

Contents:

This course is a combination of formal lectures, case studies, laboratory classes and written and oral presentations. In the case studies, small groups of students will work on a risk assessment of different food products, which will be finalised by a group report. The course will provide an overview of the most important bacterial, myco- and fycotoxins, their presence and mechanisms of toxic action and detoxification mechanisms. Bacterial virulence mechanisms and host responses will be discussed, including dose-response relationships. The effect of processing (e.g. heating) on food safety, including survival of pathogens, formation of heterocyclic amines, PAKs and oxidation products are reviewed. Microbiological and Toxicological risk assessment will be discussed including predictive modelling techniques and genetic polymorphisms for detoxication in man. In addition, during the practical course experience with rapid detection of microbial toxins and with benchmark dose modelling of dose response curves of chemical contaminants will be obtained.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- describe the occurrence of foodborne pathogens and provide an inventory of their toxins and actions;
- debate the effect of processing on the occurrence of toxic compounds and the level of pathogens present;
- distinguish host responses to pathogens and their toxins;
- compare and apply dose response models;
- define and present tools for setting up (combined) microbiological and toxicological risk evaluations;
- explain the results of a combined microbiological and toxicological risk assessment in an oral presentation and a written report;
- test and apply detection methods and reporter systems for microbial toxins.

Activities:

The activities consist of:
- formal lectures;
- laboratory classes;
- written and oral presentations and case studies.

Examination:

The minimum mark for PGO is 5.5 and constitutes 30% of the final mark.
The exam is composed of closed (50%) and open questions (50%), it constitutes 70% of the final mark, and a minimum of 5.5 is required to pass.

Literature:

Combined hand outs covering the seminars will be available at the WUR-Shop.
A guide book for laboratory work will be made available during the course.