COURSES

Goals

Educational outcomes: students will gain new knowledge on chemical food safety and deepen their knowledge on modern approaches in analysis, investigations and assurance of chemical food safety. In addition, they will gain knowledge in the determination and importance of organic pollutants in food. Results: All the above will enable students to understand the complex processes of food contaminants deriving from food production, processing and packaging.

Curriculum

The students will obtain the information in relation to different chemical types of pollutants in food, thus the course comprises of topics on inorganic and organic pollutants, and nanoparticles, which are a group of new emerging contaminants. They will be introduced to the relevant international legislation from the field of chemical contaminants in food. During the course students will also be introduced to analytical methods used to determine chemical contaminants in food and to the metrological principles, which ensure the traceable and comparable results of measurements when different analytical methods are applied. Inorganic pollutants: Introduction with basis of food chemical safety; essential (for example Zn, Cu, Fe, Se) and toxic (like Hg, Pb, Cd, As, Sn) trace elements in food, total concentration versus chemical speciation, natural sources and contamination of food with inorganic contaminants Food sampling and analysis of inorganic contaminants in food; Instrumental analytical techniques for the determination of total concentration and chemical species of trace elements in food samples (atomic optical, mass spectrometric and hyphenated techniques), quality control and quality assurance of measurements Modern analytical approaches in investigations of chemical food safety (like isotopic ratio measurements); Element by element presentation: the biological role of a given trace element in food for health. Organic pollutants: Most common groups of organic pollutants in food and their origin; Characterization of organic pollutants originating from contaminated soil, water or air; Characterization of organic pollutants that enter the food during its production, processing and packaging; Persistent and emerging organic pollutants; Sampling; Analytical methods for detection, identification and quantitation of organic pollutants; Validation analytical methods; Traceability and comparability of the results; Analytical methods based on the use of sensors: principles of operation, advantages and disadvantages. Nanoparticles: Sources of food contamination with nanoparticles (food additives and food-contact materials, like kitchen dishes and packing materials). Modern approaches in the determination of nanoparticles in various food samples with the emphasis on the need for the use of different complementary analytical techniques.