Food and Meat Inspection

Please Note: This module is only suitable for Environmental Health Professionals

This module is completed over one term allowing students to understand and appreciate the meat industry from farm to fork.  The module is specifically designed to provide the student with a balance between the theoretical and practical aspects of the Meat Inspection regime and the Meat Industry.  The module will provide students with a knowledge and understanding of the legislative framework which exist within the meat industry – from the abattoir to the final consumer, thus enabling the student to inspect and audit food premises effectively.

Students will gain an understanding of the lymphatic system of food animals (including game, poultry, fish and shellfish), incisions and observations made at ante and postmortem of these animals.  This will enable students to recognise common pathological conditions encountered in meat inspection and what action should be taken as a consequence.  It will also enable students to appreciate the Meat Hygiene Service and the benefits to Public Health of Meat Inspection.  The module will also provide a natural link with other modules, such as microbiology, enabling students to comprehend the importance of connecting breaches in legislation with, for example, food borne illness.

On successful completion of this module the student will be able to:

• Display a knowledge of current food safety legislation, and relevant codes of practice and understand that the Food Safety Act 1990 covers food from “Farm to Fork”.
• Describe the functional anatomy of the major systems within human comparative anatomy and physiology of food animals, including the ability to differentiate organs, carcasses, and cuts of meat of the food animals, including red, white, game exotic, fish and shellfish.
• Understand the structure of the Meat Industry, the Meat Hygiene Service and the mechanics and benefits of meat inspection, recognising postmortem evidence of pathological conditions of food animals common at retail level, along with postmortem quality, deterioration, and contamination.
• Understand how to inspect and audit food premises to ensure legislative compliance whilst demonstrating a clear understanding of the food safety related hazards found in food premises and how hazards are controlled to allow the management and mitigation of risk.

This is an SCQF Level 10 module and upon successful completion, participants will be awarded 10 credits.

Delivery 

Course Coordinator

Ruth Horan

NOTE: This is a university module and upon approval of your application, you will be invited to register and then supported to complete enrolment. To enrol on the university system, the first step involves security set-up using the Microsoft Authenticator app; you will need to ensure that you have a compatible smartphone.

Further information is available at the Student Information Portal.

To access this module via the CPD route, individuals should be ordinarily resident in Scotland.  If you do not meet this criteria, please enquire here.