MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY MANAGEMENT (MFSQ)
PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
- Have an understanding of principles of food quality and how they can be applied for the benefit of an ever changing market.
- Have an understanding of potential hazards in the food chain and prerequisite programmes that can prevent these hazards.
- Have an understanding of various Food safety and quality management systems.
- Be able to use available tools and models to calculate risk as well as communicate it to relevant stakeholders for the development of both Food safety objectives (FSO) and Appropriate level of protection.
- Be able to appreciate and apply both food safety and consumer legislation at local and international levels.
- Have an understanding of how drugs and pesticides can be hazards in the food chain and the development of antimicrobial resistance.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
NORMAL ENTRY
Applicants should be holders of at least an upper second class in any of the following programmes, Food Science and Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Biosciences, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Animal Science, Environmental Health, Public Health, Veterinary Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, and Human Medicine, or other relevant qualifications.
SPECIAL ENTRY
A holder of lower second or third class of any of the above-mentioned programmes or equivalent with relevant post-qualification experience.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND FURTHER EDUCATION
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
| N.B * Denotes core modules
CODE MODULE DESCRIPTION CREDITS |
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|
Level 1 Semester 1
*MFSQ 701 Total Quality Management |
24 |
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| *MFSQ 702 Advanced Food Microbiology and Toxicology | 24 | |||
| *MFSQ 703 Food Safety and Risk Analysis | 24 | |||
| *MFSQ 704 Food Borne Disease Surveillance and Control
Level 1 Semester 2 |
24 | |||
| *MFSQ 705 Research Methods and Statistics | 24 | |||
| *MFSQ 706 Food Safety, Quality Management Systems and | 24 | |||
| International Standards | ||||
| *MFSQ 707 Food Safety and Quality Governance, Legislation,
Policy and Inspection |
24 | |||
| MFSQ 708 Water Quality, Sanitation and Environmental Hygiene
Level 2 Semester 1 |
24 | |||
| *MFSQ 801 Statistical Process Control
Electives (Choose 2) |
24 | |||
| MFSQ 802 Sensory Aspects of Food Quality | 24 | |||
| MFSQ 803 Laboratory Quality Assurance | 24 | |||
| MFSQ 804 Agri-Food Safety, Antimicrobial Resistance and one Health | 24 | |||
| MFSQ 805 Port Health, Food Safety, Quality and International Trade
MFSQ 806 Food Chemistry MFSQ 807 Food Business Operations Management Level 2 Semester 2 |
24
24 24 |
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| *MFSQ 808 Dissertation | 96 | |||
MODULE SYNOPSES
MFSQ 701 Total Quality Management
Total quality management (TQM) is a philosophy, methodology and system of tools aimed to create and maintain mechanism of organization’s continuous improvement. It involves all departments and employees into improvement of processes and products. This module helps participants understand total quality concept and techniques for managing, controlling, and improving quality. The module exposes participants to contemporary knowledge and techniques of TQM.
MFSQ 702 Advanced Food Microbiology and Toxicology
This module informs on the part played by each of the major groups of microorganisms in the food chain. In addition, the changes, which occur in foods during spoilage, are highlighted, as are the risks associated with such changes. In addition to microbial toxins and pathogens the module further focuses on aspects of food toxicology including effects of pesticides and other industrial chemicals, hormones, mycotoxins, mutagens and carcinogens in food; modification of carcinogen response by antioxidants, food irradiation, food intolerance, methylxanthines; use and safety of novel foods. The module further addresses LD50 calculations and effects of various toxins on the health.
MFSQ 703 Food Safety and Risk Analysis
This module addresses the meaning of food safety and types of hazards in the food chain. It further provides knowledge on prerequisite programs (PRPs) as ways of preventing occurrence of hazards in the food chain. The module also provides knowledge on principles, methods, and approaches related to food safety and risk analysis. The modules covers risk assessment, risk management risk communication and predominant qualitative and quantitative risk analysis softwares such as @Risk and Risk Ranger among others.
MFSQ 704 Food Borne Disease Surveillance and Control
The purpose of this module is to introduce students to major foodborne pathogens, their epidemiology and associated disease burdens, approaches to outbreak investigation and control of foodborne illness. This module focuses on principles and methods for surveillance of food-borne diseases in humans, surveillance and monitoring of diseases and pathogens in animals that affect public health, investigation of outbreaks, and application of surveillance, monitoring, and outbreak investigation for the assessment of food safety hazards.
MFSQ 705 Research Methods and Statistics
The module develops foundational knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods, evaluation of research and statistical applications to relevant research data. The module focuses on application of statistical methods in food science and the use of statistical software in modern data analysis. Good research practice, procedures, ethics and data management will be covered. Students should develop skills in building an argument and communicating it orally and in writing.
MFSQ 706 Food Safety, Quality Management Systems and International Standards
With dynamic and complex food processing environments, management of food safety and quality has proved to be quite challenging. This module provides guidance into various voluntary standards available to manage food safety and quality ranging from ISO 22000, 9001, BRC and Global GAP among others. It further introduces the use of food safety schemes such as FSSC 22000 as opposed to the usual systems. Evaluation of the systems is also integral to the module, this includes auditing, MAS and other diagnostic tools.
MFSQ 707 Food Safety and Quality Governance, Legislation, Policy and Inspection
The module covers the essentials of food and consumer laws in Zimbabwe and on global scale. It introduces the concept of a food control system in food safety governance and provides the role of various ministries and pieces of legislation in the food control system. The module looks at how food and consumer-related offenders are dealt with by the law both locally and globally. The international food law as Codex in known is also addressed in this module. The module also looks at how local legislation fits into the Codex in the dynamic and complex field of food processing.
MFSQ 708 Water Quality, Sanitation and Environmental Hygiene
The module serves to introduce the important concepts and key concepts that are used in environmental health and hygiene. The module seeks to explain the scope of environmental health and describe the links between hygiene, water, sanitation and human health. It describes the steps in environmental health planning and gives an overview of the management of hygiene and environmental health at the community level. The module examines the importance of safe drinking water, the sources and treatment of water, as well as its application in the food industry.
MFSQ 801 Statistical Process Control
The module is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of the importance of statistical quality control concepts in controlling and improving the production process and to give students a practical knowledge of using statistical methods in analysing the production and service processes. Major topics include tools for descriptive and predictive statistical analysis, design and use of various control charts for quality control, process characterization and capability analysis, design of experiments, acceptance sampling and continuous improvement. The emphasis is on ensuring that the students gain both a broad perspective of quality control as well as the technical skills necessary to implement quality control in any industrial setting.
MFSQ 802 Sensory Aspects of Food Quality
This module provides advanced elements of food quality, safety and sensory science. In particular, it will discuss the concept of quality and its components with a particular focus on the sensory science elements. The sensory science component gives an overview of objective (analytical) sensory testing and concentrates on developing practical skills within analytical sensory testing. The module examines the role of sensory evaluation in marketing of food and beverages, physiological and psychological factors affecting sensory perception and relationships between sensory properties and product acceptability as well as recent advances in sensory methods.
MFSQ 803 Laboratory Quality Assurance
This module provides the necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to efficiently implement and maintain laboratory management systems. Students gain an understanding of the applicability of tests, in relation to the resources available to both chemistry and microbiology laboratories and practical experience of working within a laboratory quality assurance system such as ISO 17025. The competencies of the students should ensure that the food produced is compliant with private and public standard requirements.
MFSQ 804 Agri-Food Safety, Antimicrobial Resistance and one Health
The module provides information on zoonotic diseases and how they impede human health. It also looks at the various drugs, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals used in the agriculture sector and their control. It further provides mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and how agro-chemicals contribute to antimicrobial resistance. Further, the module addresses how antimicrobial resistance is a threat to human health and the economy. In addition, the module provides room for students to come up with potential solutions from the farm up to the policymaking level. The module also looks at the one health approach in dealing with zoonosis, antimicrobial resistance and food safety at the national level.
MFSQ 805 Port Health, Food Safety, Quality and International Trade
The food industry has become a global village that has seen purchases of raw materials and final products across the globe. More often in times of foodborne disease outbreaks, many nations restrict entry of certain food products. This module looks at various trade agreements and their implications on food safety. It further addresses various practices at the ports of entry. Additionally, the module addresses the structures of port health departments of various nations (Developing vs. Developed), their strengths and weaknesses and implications on food safety, quality and economics of trade.
- MFSQ 806 Food Chemistry
The module deals with the composition and properties of food and the chemical changes it undergoes during handling processing and storage. Food chemists are typically concerned with identifying the molecular determinants of material properties and chemical reactivity of food matrices, and how this understanding is effectively applied to improve the formulation, processing and storage stability of foods. The module covers a broad range of topics ranging from the chemistry of food components (Water, carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins) to minor food components (Vitamins, Minerals, Colorants, Flavors, Sweeteners, Food Additives, nutraceuticals and toxicants). Aspects of Food systems are also covered including dispersal systems, physical and chemical interactions of components in food systems.
MFSQ 807 Food Business Operations Management
This course introduces participants to the concepts and practices of operations management in the context of food processing and manufacturing businesses. It conveys an understanding of the role of supervisory and management staff in the design, operation, management and improvement of food production operations such that customer requirements are continually met and legal requirements are adhered to.
MFSQ 808 Dissertation
The module is aimed at engendering students with a spirit of enquiry into a research-based dissertation.
A broad range of research is encompassed within the expertise based in the Food Safety and Quality Management field and may include a single focused investigation, or a series of discipline specific investigations, ranging from ‘wet’-laboratory based, ICT-based, questionnaire/survey-based, to ‘dry’ theoretically-based projects.