Module Identifier BS24410  
Module Title HEALTH AND THE FOOD CHAIN  
Academic Year 2006/2007  
Co-ordinator Dr Glyn Jenkins  
Semester Semester 2  
Pre-Requisite BS12310  
Course delivery Lecture   20 Hours. (20 x 1 hour lectures)  
  Practical   0 Hours.  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours One 2-hour theory paper  70%
Semester Assessment Essay on food  30%
Supplementary Exam2 Hours One 2-hour theory paper  70%
Supplementary Assessment resubmission of all failed coursework or alternative.  30%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:


Aims

This module is dedicated to the topic of food, since food has the greatest impact not only upon human health, but also upon the use of human resources and impact on the environment.   It aims to show on the one hand how human ingenuity has increased food production, and on the other how food quality and supply may be compromised.

Content

Origin and evolution of food animals and plants.
Animal care and welfare, intensive breeding, breeding strategies, plant breeding.
Modern and alternative approaches to food production, molecular methods of crop improvement, GMOs and risk assessment, organic farming.
Development, productivity and sustainability of crop production, strategies of pest control.
Food quality, microbiology, probiotics, allergy, adulteration, contamination, labelling, authentication and food standards, food processing and additives.
Nutrition, nutritional values, malnutrition, obesity, eating disorders, food distribution, fair trade and meeting the global needs for food.

Brief description

Food production, quality and distribution, and how these relate to human health.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Chrispeels, M.J. & sadava, D.E. (2003) Plants, genes, and crop biotechnology Jones and Bartlett
Glick, R & Pasternak, J.J. (1998) Molecular biotechnology ASM Press
Houdebine, L-M. (2003) Animal transgenisis and cloning Wiley
Slater, A & Fowler, M. (2003) Plant biotechnology Oxford

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5