Food Safety sistem - Food Quality – Microbial Quality of Foods. Establishment of microbiological safety criteria. Managing food safety: use of performance standards and other criteria in food inspection system. Assurance Quality system in food analysis laboratory. Certification of Microbiological laboratory. Food classification by microbial criteria. Food and microorganisms interaction. Microbial analysis of food, of raw foods of processed food. Sampling systems. Traditional analysis methods (FDA, USDA, ISO, AFNOR) and non conventional methods. Methods to detect Micrococcaceae; Lactobacillus; Gram + sporeform bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae (E.coli, Salmonella spp., Pseudomonas, Alteromonas and Shewanella. Evaluation of the results. Microbial limits by law or by experience. ALOP, FSO, NOAEL, Microbial objectives, process objectives, performance objectives.

The educational objectives of the teaching are (i) the acquisition of the concepts of food safety and foodborne disease; (ii) knowledge of the dangers (biological, chemical, physical) and risks associated with food; (iii) knowledge and understanding of methods for epidemiological surveillance and the study of food-borne outbreaks; (iv) knowledge of foodborne diseases of significant impact in Italy and in Europe; (v) knowledge of the fundamentals of food law aimed at guaranteeing the wholesomeness of products and consumer health; (vi) 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.
At the end of the course, the student will have to know the methods of food contamination, the main contaminants and the risks associated with them. They will also have to be able to understand the dynamics with which food-borne epidemics occur in the population and to know the intervention and prevention strategies based on current legislation.

L.S.Cocolin et G.Comi: Microbiologia Applicata alle produzioni alimentari (2007, Aracne Editrice).

A.A.V.V.: G.Comi e L.Iacumin Alimenti di origine animale e prodotti ittici in “Microbiologia degli Alimenti” G. Gobetti, M.Vincenzini, G.A.Farris, E.Neviani eds. (Ambrosiana Editrice Milano, 2012).