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Shelflife of Food

Course developers

Course abstract

The study course introduces and gives possibility to get knowledge about different kind of factors, which influence food spoilage processes and determination of expiry date of food. The main problems will be discussed in the course: definition and legislation of food shelf-life determination and its indication possibilities, defining food products which shelf-life should not be indicated. During the course it will be possible to understand and to acquire the main ways of food spoilage.

Learning outcomes and their assessment

After studying the course, the student will have:
• knowledge and critical understanding of the shelf life of food products and their determination (theory test, workshops, independent work);
• skills to formulate and analytically describe the factors that influence the spoilage of food products; determine, explain and reasonedly discuss the types of food spoilage (practical work, seminars, laboratory work).

• competences to independently obtain, select and analyse the results of food products stored under different conditions and the possibilities of extending their shelf life (laboratory work and independent work).

Course Content(Calendar)

In full-time face-to-face studies:
1. Expiry date of food products - definition, binding legislation. The main factors affecting the quality of food products during storage. (L. 2h).
2. Label analysis. (P.W. 2h)
3. Theoretical evaluation of nutritional value, calculation. (P.W. 2h)
4. Changes in quality indicators of food products during storage. Theoretical analysis of the main types of spoilage of different food products. The main types of deterioration of food products: physical and chemical. (L. 2h)
5. Microbiological spoilage of food products. Determining the expiration date of food products. Methods of accelerated testing of the storage time of food products, their basic principles, importance and suitability. (L. 2h)
6. Creation of an accelerated testing method for the storage time of food products for a specific food product. Methods of determining the degree of spoilage of food products. Determination of changes in the quality indicators of various food products during storage, discussion of the results obtained in the practical work. (L. 2h)
7. Theory test (W. 1h) Creation of a plan for determining the expiration date of a specific food product (characteristic types of spoilage, factors, determinable quality indicators, periodicity of quality parameter testing, evaluation of the suitability of an accelerated expiration date determination method) (W. 1h)
8. Determining the shelf life of bread (rye, wheat, seed, sourdough) (by changing external/internal factors affecting quality). (L.W. 2h)
9. Determining the shelf life of bread (rye, wheat, seed, sourdough) (by changing external/internal factors affecting quality). (L.W. 2h)
10. Determining the shelf life of dairy products (butter, margarine, yogurt) (by changing external/internal factors affecting quality). (L.W. 2h)
11. Determining the shelf life of dairy products (butter, margarine, yogurt) (by changing external/internal factors affecting quality). (L.W. 2h)
12. Determining the expiration date of beverages (various types of beer, iced tea, kvass) (by changing external/internal factors affecting quality). (L.W. 2h)
13. Determining the expiration date of beverages (various types of beer, iced tea, kvass) (by changing external/internal factors affecting quality). (L.D. 2h)
14. Determining the expiration date of vegetables/fruits (by changing external/internal factors affecting quality). (L.D. 2h)
15. Determining the expiration date of vegetables/fruits (various types) (by changing external/internal factors affecting quality). (L.W. 2h)

16. Defence of laboratory works. Report on the chosen topic, reasoned discussion on the problem situation and possible solutions. (W. 2h)

Requirements for awarding credit points

Passing with a mark.
In order to successfully complete the study course, the student must:
• must participate in practical classes, workshops, laboratory works (100%) and lectures (70%);
• you must successfully write a theory test (the test includes both test and open questions);
• prepare and publicly defend a presentation on the chosen topic (individual work);

• publicly present and justify the results obtained in laboratory work (group work).

Description of the organization and tasks of students’ independent work

Content of findings included in independent work (presentation):
• the chemical composition of the specific food product (either developed or already existing) should be evaluated, explaining how the existing chemical compounds can affect the quality of the product both during processing and storage;
• possible types of damage to the given food product and their prevention options;
• how various factors can affect the quality of a specific product during storage (intrinsic and extrinsic factors, technological regimes, etc.);
• theoretical schedule for testing the quality of the selected food product during storage (which parameters will be controlled, how often);
• evaluation of the suitability of using the method of determining the accelerated expiration date of the selected food product (what factors will be changed, what parameters will be observed, what will be controlled, whether it is applicable, etc.);
• possibilities of extending the storage time of the specific food product;
• conclusions;

• bibliography.

Criteria for Evaluating Learning Outcomes

The mark of test depends on tests’ results and evaluation of report.
Test is evaluated as positive, if 60% of questions are correct.
Report is evaluated according the order of evaluation

The average mark is calculated as mean value among test and report results.

Compulsory reading

1. Food packaging and shelf life [elektroniskais resurss] : a practical guide / [edited by] Gordon L. Robertson. Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis, 2009. 404 p. Grāmata izdota arī iespiestā veidā. ISBN 9781420078459 (e-book : PDF).
2. How to Determine the Shelf-life and Date Marking of Food [elektroniskais resurss] Ministry of Primary Industries, New Zealand government, 2012, 28 p.
3. Validation of Product Shelf-life (Revision 2), published by: Food Safety Authority of Ireland Abbey Court [elektroniskais resurss], 2014, 45 p.

4. Food safety in the 21st century : public health perspective / editors Rajul Kumar Gupta, Puja Dudeja, Amarjeet Singh Minhas. London : Academic Press, [2017] xli, 584 lpp. : ilustrācijas ; 24 cm ISBN 9780128017739.

Further reading

1. Galoburda, Ruta, Pārtikas apstrādes alternatīvie procesi / Ruta Galoburda, Tatjana Rakčejeva ; Latvijas Lauksaimniecības universitāte. Pārtikas tehnoloģijas fakultāte. Jelgava : LLU, 2008. 94 lpp. : il. ; 30 cm. ISBN 9789984784861.Nicoli, M.C. (Ed.). (2012). Shelf Life Assessment of Food (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi-org.ezproxy.llu.lv/10.1201/b11871
2. Dar, B.N., Shah, M.A., & Mir, S.A. (Eds.). (2022). Shelf Life and Food Safety (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi-org.ezproxy.llu.lv/10.1201/9781003091677

3. Man, John M. Principles of food chemistry / John M. de Man [un vēl 3 autori]. Fourth edition. Cham, Switzerland:Springer, [2017] xviii, 607 lpp. : ilustrācijas, tabulas ; 26 cm. Food Science Text Series. ISBN 9783319636054.

Periodicals and other sources

1. www.likumi.lv

2. https://europa.eu/european-union/eu-law/legal-acts_en

Notes

Free choice study course for undergraduate students