Hygiene and food technology
Learning outcomes of the course unit
The students will be learned about the hazards of microbial contamination of foods. They will study and perform the analytical tests for hygienic indicators of food products, such as the aerobic plate count, Enterobacteriaceae count and Escherichia coli count.
The most important foodborne infectious microbial and viral diseases will be studied.
The composition of cow milk and the technology of heat-treated milk (pasteurization, sterilization, microfiltration) will be studied. The most important European and Italian laws on milk production and safety will be learned.
Course contents summary
The hazards of microbial contamination of foodstuffs of animal origin will be studied, together with appropriate strategies of prevention. The students will learn microbial analytical methods (ISO official methods) for aerobic plate count , Enterobacteriaceae count and Escherichia coli count. The analysis wuill be performed by the students themselves in the "Food Microbiology" laboratory.
Some of the most important foodborne diseases will be studied, i.e. Listeria monocytogenes, Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli, Yersinia Enterocolitica, Enterobacter sakazakii, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus infections. The viral diseases by Calicivirus, Rotavirus, Hepatitis A virus, Hepatitis E virus and Poliovirus will be learned, because of their importance in human health and their trnsmission by foods.
The technology of milk will be studied. Cow raw milk composition will be studied, together with milk preservation technologies: pasteurization, sterilization, microfiltration. Studies on the most important Italian and European laws concerning hygienic measures in milk production and distribution, milk safety and shelf-like of heat-treated milk will be carried on.
Recommended readings
Rondanelli, Fabbi, Marone: "Trattato sulle infezioni e tossinfezioni alimentari". 2005, Selecta Medica, Pavia.
De Felip: "Recenti sviluppi di igiene e microbiologia degli alimenti". 2001. Tecniche Nuove, Milano.
Salvadori Del Prato: "Tecnologie del latte". 2005. Edagricole, Bologna