Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze e tecnologie alimentari - STAL

The course contributes to the education and training of a Master of Science in Food Science and Technology in the teaching domain of Management, sustainability and quality of the food chains. The aim is to provide the students with knowledge and competences on chemical and biological substances that can contaminate food of animal and plant origin, including mycotoxins and GMO. The students will learn about types and sources of such substances, pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for the hazard to both animal and human health, and the measures necessary to control the contamination levels.

Knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course, the student should:

• understand the main issues of food safety related to chemical and biological contamination of food of animal and plant origin
• identify the sources of exposure to contaminants
• summarize the main mechanisms of action of contaminants
• illustrate the main effects of contaminants on consumers
• know the main control measures to reduce contamination levels
• know the issues related to the use of GMO in agriculture
• know and understand the specific regulations about chemical and biological contaminants in foodstuff and about food safety
• synthetize the specific regulations about chemical contaminants in food of animal origin

Applying knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• apply the essential knowledge related to management and control of chemical and biological contamination in food of animal and plant origin
• execute fast and sensitive analytical tests for the detection of contaminants in food of animal origin
• select the most effective analytical techniques for the measurement of mycotoxins, pesticide and fertilizer residues, adventitious GMO
• select the most appropriate strategies to limit the spread on micotoxinogenic fungi
• perform a bibliographic research on topics related to the course

Making judgements

At the end of the course, the student will be able to autonomously:

• assess the main toxicological issues in products of animal and plant origin, and the main biosafety issues in foodstuffs
• assess the risk for the consumer deriving from the presence of contaminants in food of animal origin
• select the suitable measures to limit contamination
• identify the best strategies to prevent and control contamination
• autonomously deepen topics of the subject

Communication skills

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• adopt scientific and technical language proper in each situation
• elaborate and present a subject in the field of food toxicology

Learning skills

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• find and understand the information in research articles/books in the field of food toxicology
• read and apply norms about chemical and biological contaminants in food of animal and plant origin and biosafety

The course objectives will be achieved both in module A and module B through:

• lectures (Module A: 22 h; Module B 39 h)
• practical work, including computer lab (Module A: 9 h; Module B: 4 h)
• Module B includes also oral presentations by students of the literature search subject developed (7 hours)

Lectures will be held in classroom and online in streaming on webex platform; lectures will supported by power point presenations  with pictures and videos and with discussion of study cases. Lectures will be registred and uploaded on the Moodle platform at the discretion of the teacher.

In case of critical situation with the COVID pandemic the lectures will be online on webx platform in streaming, recorded and uploaded on moodle platform. 

Per il modulo B ‘Mycotoxins and contaminants from plant disease management’, agli studenti è chiesto di relizzare un lavoro di gruppo su un argomento del corso, con una dissertazione scritta (10-12 pagine max) ed una presentazione orale (durata 10 minuti). I docenti valuteranno la dissertazione scritta (15/30). Sia i docenti, sia gli altri studenti, valuteranno la presentazione orale (15/30).

Per il modulo Contaminants in food of animal origin, l’apprendimento viene verificato attraverso una prova scritta costituita da domande a risposta multipla e domande aperte che vertono su quanto specificato in programma, comprese le attività esercitative.

La valutazione è espressa in 30/30. Il punteggio conseguito sarà mediato tra i due moduli del corso integrato.

Qualora lo studente non superi o non sostenga la prova scritta o l’esame orale dovrà sostenere una prova orale congiuntamente all'altro modulo.

In caso di emergenza COVID le prove d'esame saranno sostenute in modalità online via Webex.

The evaluation of module A, ‘Mycotoxins and contaminants from plant disease management’, will be based on scoring a dissertation about a topic of the course (10-12 pages long) and an oral presentation (10 minutes long) prepared by students divided in teams.

Teachers will grade the written dissertation (15 points over 30). Teachers and student fellows will evaluate the oral presentation (15 points over 30).

For the module ‘Contaminants in food of animal origin’, the course grade will be assessed through a written test with multiple choices and open questions about the course program including the practical work.

The evaluation will be expressed in 30/30. The final score will be the average of the two modules of the integrated course.

In case of negative results or non-attendance of the written test or the oral presentation, the student will be requested to take an oral examination of both modules.  

In case of COVID emergency, the exams will be held through an online modality via Webex.

The course syllabus is divided into two modules:

Module A (3 CFU): CONTAMINANTS IN FOOD OF ANIMAL ORIGIN

Lectures will be structured as follows:

General

• definition and classification of chemical contaminants in food of animal origin
• general outlines on chemical contaminant related hazard for consumers
• general outlines on European legislation about chemical contaminants
• monitoring and control strategies for chemical contaminants in food of animal origin

Special

• Dioxins and PCB
• Mycotoxins (AFB1 and OTA) in food of animal origin
• Heavy metals: Cd, Pb, Hg
• Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF)

Practical work will include the active partecipation of students to group activities in lbaoratory (also informatic) and during the visits to national centers for the control of contaminants.

Module B (5CFU) Mycotoxins and contaminants from plant disease management

Lectures

• Aspects of food safety related to plant products.Secondary metabolism of fungi.
• Main mycotoxins present in foodstuff.
• Immunological and chemical methods for the detection of mycotoxins in food.
• Traditional and molecular diagnostic methods for mycotoxigenic fungi.
• Biosensors and nanosensors for plant pathogens and mycotoxigenic fungi.
• Physical, chemical and biological decontamination and detoxification from mycotoxins.
• Strategies for prevention and control: physical, chemical and biological tools for crop protection in postharvest.
• Genetically modified organisms for crop protection and food safety: techniques, applications, benefits, risks, legislation, bioethics.
• Chemical control of plant pathogens: principles and regulations.
• Detection methods for pesticide residues in foodstuff.
• Nitrates and other fertilizer residues in plant products.

Practicals

• Isolation of mycotoxigenic fungi and microscope observations.
• Literature search on aspects of food toxicology and preparation of a short dissertation and of a power point presentation.

Primary textbook

Material published in the Moodle platform related to the course (presentations, scientific articles and publications)

Secondary textbooks:

• Schrenk and Cartus “Chemical Contaminants and Residues in Food”, Woodhead Publishing, 2017
• Carlo Nebbia “Residui di farmaci e contaminanti ambientali nelle produzioni animali”, Edises, 2009

The methods of carrying out the teaching activity may vary according to the limitations imposed by the current health crisis. In any case, the remote mode is ensured througouth the academic year.