Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course unit student should be able to

• explain microbial spoilage of food,
• describe food borne microbial illness and prevention,
• distinguish between indicators of microbial quality and safety of food,
• propose effective microbiological quality assurance schemes in the food industry,
• explain the production technologies of various food products,
• determine the faults related to processing lines in various food industries,

Course content:
Food Microbiology

Microbial flora of fresh foods.  Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting microbial growth in foods. General aspects of food spoilage, spoilage of specific types of food.  Physical and chemical changes taking place as a result of microbial spoilage. Microbiological examination of foods.  Preservation of foods and legislation. Indices of sanitary quality and microbiological standards, food poisoning. Fermented foods, microorganisms as food -SCP.  Dairy Microbiology: Microorganisms in milk, Microbiological examination of milk. Pasteurization and sterilization of milk. Grades of milk and dairy products manufactured with the aid of microorganisms.  Quality assurance in food industry,  Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system.

Food Hygiene:

Indices of food sanitary quality; Coliforms, Enterococci and total bacterial counts as indicators of food sanitary quality, Microbiological standards of food. Food borne Pathogens, Reservoirs of infection and modes of spread, Epidemiology and investigation of food poisoning out breaks. Detection of food borne Pathogens. Food Hygiene in the prevention of food borne disease; production and processing of foods, Personal hygiene of food handlers, storage and transport of food, food plant and equipment sanitation. Keeping quality of foods; methods used in the prevention of spoilage of foods. Quality of water and Ice used in food Industry. Microbiological guidelines in food Catering Industry.

Food Technology:

Scope of food science & technology.  Principals of food processing technology: preliminary operational techniques, conversion & preservation operational techniques and ancillary techniques. Processing technology of cereals, meats, fish, and poultry & eggs and dairy products.  Processing of fats, oils & related products and sugar syrup & soft drinks.  Fruit and Vegetable Technology.  Principals of food packaging & food transport.  ISO guidelines.

Method of teaching and learning:

A combination of lectures, tutorials and computer assisted learning.

Assessment:

Continuous assessment and end of the course examination.

Recommended reading:

1. Banwart, G (1989) Basic Food Microbiology. Chapman & Hall
2. Forsyth, S.J (1995) Food Hygiene, Microbiology and HACCP. Culinary and Hospitality Industry Publications Services
3. James, M.J.(1995) Modern microbiology. Plenum Press, NY
4. Poter, N.N.H (1999) Food Science. Chapman and Hall.
5. Rahman, M.S. (1999) Handbook of food preservation.