NFOK15011U Food Quality Management and Control

Volume 2021/2022
Education

MSc Programme in Food Science and Technology

Content

The course will introduce the concepts of food quality management and control from three different/complementary perspectives: 1) a detailed reading of the ISO 9001 standard, and insight into the use of this standard for the management of food quality; 2) monitoring of the food quality based on process monitoring tools such as Statistical Quality Control (SQC) and Lean Six Sigma to ensure a food product with minimal variation.

Producing food requires understanding of all process steps, and knowledge of the performance of each step is critical to estimate the variability of the final product. Knowing the variability makes it possible to find solutions for adjusting it, if it is not in accordance with the process step and/or end-product specifications. Thus, the idea of measuring, understanding, adjusting, monitoring and controlling variability throughout the production is a key topic of this course.

Quality in this course will be seen both in a wide context; i.e. as proof of product specification meaning that the variability of the food produced is known and below or within an acceptable limit to ensure customer satisfaction, as well as occasionally in a more narrow context; i.e. as food safety meaning that the amount of hazards is below a certain limit.

Learning Outcome

The main objective of this course is to provide the students with knowledge on international food quality management system standards and food quality monitoring and verification tools. After completing the course, the students should be able to:

Knowledge: 

- Describe food quality management according to international standards on food quality management (e.g. ISO 9001). 

- Show overview of how the above mentioned food quality management system standards can be applied in the food industry.

- Describe how a food production quality should be measured to ensure that process variation is under control.

- Describe how to gain insight into a process using quality by design to be able to optimize a process.

Skills: 

- Apply ISO 9001 for food quality management.

- Use SQC and sampling technologies to monitor and verify process and product specifications.

- Communicate orally problems and solutions within food quality management.

- Use monitoring systems (e.g. real-time measurements), Six Sigma and SQC like tools to get knowledge of and to monitor quality control points in a food production and also to understand how the measurement uncertainty of process steps will influence the uncertainty/variability of the food product parameters.

Competences:  

- Evaluate whether existing and/or new control strategies are appropriate in order to achieve safe and robust food products.

- Evaluate how the raw materials and production steps can be monitored to get an even better control of the final food product.

See Absalon for a list of course literature.

Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree is recommended.
Lectures, project work, and seminars. The lectures introduce theoretical and practical aspects of international systems on food quality management and control. The project work and seminars will help the students to interpret and obtain an understanding of the above mentioned aspects.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 30
  • Class Instruction
  • 20
  • Preparation
  • 40
  • Project work
  • 115
  • Exam
  • 1
  • Total
  • 206
Oral
Individual
Collective
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Feedback by final exam (In addition to the grade)
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral examination, 20 min
Description of Examination: 3 weeks before the examination, all examination questions (covering the essential issues of the course) are handed out. At the time of examination, one question is drawn, and the examination proceeds without preparation time. One third of the time will be used on the drawn question; two thirds on random questions within the curriculum.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Several internal examiners
Re-exam

Same as the ordinary examination

Criteria for exam assesment

See Learning Outcome