| Unit name | Meat Hygiene and Public Health |
|---|---|
| Unit code | VETSM0023 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Ed van Klink |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Core skills 1 unit, Biochemistry and meat quality unit. |
| Co-requisites |
Other 20 credit units required for completion of PgC (3 units), PgD (6 units) and MSc (6 units + core skills 2 + research project). Animal production unit Animal welfare Poultry processing Meat processing |
| School/department | Bristol Veterinary School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
Meat is the most common source of food-borne disease, and microbes are the most important cause of food spoilage. As a consequence meat hygiene is of paramount importance during the production of raw meat. In addition, the unit considers the principles of food preservation, risk analysis and methods of ensuring safe food processing.
Students will be able to demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of the microbes involved in disease and food spoilage, how to minimise the contamination of raw meat, the principles of food preservation and the methods by which hygiene can be assessed.
Students will also be able to review the scientific literature on a selected topic, and summarise the main findings in a written form including references and appropriate tables and figures.
The unit has 30 hours of lectures and includes student-led oral presentations. It also includes a half day practical giving students experience of some basic meat microbiology: swabbing meat surfaces, plating out and counting colonies.
For most lectures, students receive printed copies of powerpoint slides and comprehensive course notes including references for further reading.
The unit has excellent e-resources available through a Blackboard site that hosts all the lectured material and online MCQs for formative and summative assessment. Each lecture has a set of powerpoint slides, written notes (with references for further reading), and an audio presentation. The site also includes full details of coursework requirements, and hosts past exam papers. Coursework is submitted electronically and checked for plagiarism.
Knowledge, understanding and other M level skills are assessed by a combination of coursework (50% of available marks) and a 3 hour written examination (50% of available marks).
Coursework consists of a fully referenced essay (~2500 words) and an online multiple choice question (MCQ) test which account for 70 and 30%, respectively, of the marks allocated for coursework.
The 3 hour unseen examination paper has a mandatory 5-part question designed to test breadth of knowledge, and a choice of essay-style questions (3 from 6) designed to test depth of knowledge and understanding of the subject area, including past and current research.
There is a strong reliance on original research papers from various journals (eg Meat Science, International Journal of Food Microbiology, Journal of Food Protection) that can be accessed through the library or using the University’s electronic resources. The following books are also helpful.
