Food Hygiene and Safety

The educational objectives of the course are:
the acquisition of the concepts of food safety and food-borne diseases; the knowledge of the hazards (biological, chemical, physical) and risks associated with food; the knowledge and understanding of the methods for epidemiological surveillance and the study of food-borne outbreaks; the knowledge of food-borne diseases of significant impact in Italy and Europe; the knowledge of the fundamentals of food legislation aimed at ensuring the wholesomeness of products and consumer health; the understanding of the principles of development and application of control systems (HACCP and official controls), to guarantee the hygiene and safety of food products along the production and distribution chain; the knowledge of hygiene in schools and during developmental age, focusing on the most frequent pathologies in school age (overweight, eating disorders, tooth decay, scoliosis); the understanding of food safety in schools, hospitals and care settings; the knowledge of collective catering (school, hospital and retirement home menus, low-sodium, low-fat and gluten-free diets for special purposes); the knowledge of food allergies and intolerances (celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, lactose intolerance, nickel intolerance, scombroid syndrome and anisakidosis).

At the end of the course, students should know the food contamination routes, food contaminants and associated risks. The student should also have become able to understand the dynamics of foodborne outbreaks occurring in the population and to know the intervention and prevention strategies based on current legislation.