Courses

Food Contaminants

General

Course Contents

  • Introduction in food contamination; Types of contamination; Migration of chemical contaminants into food; Risk Assessment of chemical contaminants and residues in food; Food sampling and sample preparation methods for the analysis of contaminants.
  • Major Chemical Contaminants of Food; Foodborn diseases.
  • Toxic metals and metalloids; Analysis of trace elements by atomic spectroscopy and ICP in food.
  • Mycotoxins, Dioxins and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Foods, Pesticide Residues, Heat-Generated Toxicants in Foods (Acrylamide, MCPD Esters, Furan, and Related Compounds), Melamine contamination. Analytical methods for the determination of toxins.
  • Radioactivity in food, irradiation in food processing. Analytical methods for the determination of radioisotopes. Analytic Techniques Using EM Radiation.

Educational Goals

After successfully completing the course, students will be able to describe what food contamination is, the origin and the types of contamination. The study of the causes of contamination and the control and identification of dangerous substances in food are the main axes of the course. Since contamination has negative effects on food quality and can pose risks to human health, the control and identification of food contaminants is imperative to minimize their presence in food.

General Skills

  • Work in an interdisciplinary environment.
  • Promotion of free, creative, and inductive thinking.
  • Independent and group work and decision making.
  • Search for further relevant information with the use of information technologies to better understand the subject.

Teaching Methods

  • Face to face.

Use of ICT means

  • Lectures with PowerPoint slides.
  • Notes in electronic format.
  • Use of videos and online applications.
  • Post course material and communicate with students on the university online platform.

Teaching Organization

ActivitySemester workload
Lectures40
Exercises20
Independent Study40
Total100

Students Evaluation

Evaluation methods:

  • Written final exams of the course with short development, critical and multiple-choice questions.
  • The evaluation criteria are presented and analyzed to the students at the beginning of the semester.

Recommended Bibliography

  1. Food Contaminants, Sources and Surveillance, 1st Edition/1991 C Creaser, R Purchase, Woodhead Publishing,  Hardcover ISBN: 9781855737846.
  2. Food Contaminants and Residue Analysis, Volume 51, Pages 1-821 (2008), Edited by Yolanda Picó, Elsevier B.V., ISBN: 978-0-444-53019-6.
  3. Progress in Food Contaminant Analysis, 1996, J. Gilbert, Springer US/Chapman & Hall, ISBN: 978-1-4612-8425-3.
  4. Methods of Analysis of Food Components and Additives, 2nd Edition/2016, Edited by Semih Otles, CRC Press, ISBN: 9781138199149.
  5. Chemical Contaminants and Residues in Food, 2012, D Schrenk , Woodhead Publishing, ISBN: 9780857090584.
  6. Spectroscopic Methods in Food Analysis, 2017, Edited by Adriana S. Franca & Leo M.L. Nollet, CRC Press, ISBN: 9781498754613.
  7. Food Safety Chemistry: Toxicant Occurrence, Analysis and Mitigation, 2018, Edited by Liangli (Lucy) Yu, Shuo Wang & Baoguo Sun CRC Press, ISBN: 9781138033818.
  8. Rapid methods, For biological and chemical contaminants in food and feed, 2005, Edited by  A. van Amerongen, D. Barug & M. Lauwaars, Wageningen Academic Publishers,  ISBN: 978-90-76998-53-4.

Related Research Journals

  1. Food Additives & Contaminants.
  2. International Journal of Food Contamination.
  3. Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene.
  4. Journal of Food Science and Toxicology.
  5. International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health.