Course Title: Meat Technology

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Meat Technology

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

ONPS1105

City Campus

Undergraduate

135H Applied Sciences

Face-to-Face

Sem 1 2006,
Sem 1 2007,
Sem 1 2008,
Sem 1 2009

ONPS2128

City Campus

Postgraduate

135H Applied Sciences

Face-to-Face

Sem 1 2006,
Sem 1 2007,
Sem 1 2008,
Sem 1 2009

Course Coordinator: Elisabeth Gorczyca

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 2624

Course Coordinator Email: l.gorczyca rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: Building 39, Level 4, Room 8

Course Coordinator Availability: Monday mornings or Fridays with an appointment


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

At least two of Food Preservation, Food Manufacturing or Proteins in Food Science


Course Description

This course deals with the technology involved in the processing and storage of the various food products originating from meat, fish, poultry and eggs. The safety issues associated with these products will also be emphasised.

Furthermore this course provides background information with respect to meat (and fish, poultry and egg) processing which will assist  the following important areas for the food industry:

(1) Product development of added value products (2) Selection of meaningful parameters for Sensory evaluation (3) Appropriate utilization of ingredients from other commodities such as Dairy and Grain products in meat (fish, poultry and egg) products and (4) Understanding of product and process food microbiology.

THE PRACTICAL COMPONENT complements the concepts studied in lectures.
*Students learn through hands-on experiences and the highlighting of issues associated with the production of selected meat, fish, and poultry products.

*This is supplemented with experiences gained through industry visits where details of raw materials handling, production procedures, process control, and product safety (including HACCP where applicable), distribution and marketing of the finished products are observed and studied.

*Other skills learnt in this course are teamwork, technical report writing, problem solving, effective oral communication and critical analysis of material including the literature.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

After successful completion of this course each student should be able to:
*Demonstrate an understanding of market organisation, economic importance ($ value) and product range of the industries studied and where appropriate, environmental or ecological market issues;
*Develop Process Flow Diagrams for products studied, and thereby describe the process and in particular be able to give a technical justification for the steps in the process;
*Discuss and associate raw material characteristics, formulations, handling and processing procedures with quality, yield and cost of product produced and in most cases safety;
*Analyse the processes studied and identify the control points for quality and in most cases safety. For these control points you should be able to recommend appropriate parameters (and limits);
*Analyse quantitatively the effect of alternate ingredients or varying concentrators e.g. nitrites in smallgoods, fillers in sausages;
*Analyse qualitatively and in some cases quantitatively alternate processing approaches e.g. different chilling methods for fish products, different curing methods for smallgoods, different drying regimes for salamis;
*Critically evaluate processes for their effectiveness with respect to product quality, yield and in most cases safety;
*Compare and contrast products and processes and thereby (a) categorise and (b) identify possible applications and limitations;
*Demonstrate an understanding of the Food Standards in relation to these food commodities.

CAPABILITIES

*PROBLEM SOLVING Skills

Both quantitative and qualitative problems form the basis of this course. The material is presented during lectures usually in a problem style requiring input from students as to possible solutions.


*CRITICAL ANALYSIS Skills

The format of the practical component and the tutorial questions requires the students to evaluate given material and to assess it in terms of correctness, completeness, clarity, logical flow. The issues of depth of knowledge is also addressed in that the students will evaluate the material in terms of whether the significance of the issue has also been addressed not just the processing order.

* COMMUNICATION Skills

Communication skills (written) particularly in a concise manner as the students are asked to document and evaluate a specific meat product and process. Rather than the traditional essay style, the students are asked to prepare material in a question-answer style. as well as summarise the material to learn to identify the key issues. This activity should help them analyse not only the technical material in question but also the clarity of their own question and answer.

Oral communications are developed through the practical /tutorial sessions requiring students to present their particular problem and solution to the class.



Overview of Learning Activities

The learning activities include

(a) Lectures usually interactive through a problem identification - problem solving format ,

(b) Accessing on-line tutorial material,

(c) Practical activities - including (1)industry visits, (2)hands-on processing during which allocated problems / questions will be discussed, and (3)an industry mentoring exercise

(d) Written assignments (2) - one associated with an Industry mentor and the other product analysis (this replaces the report per practical approach),

(e) Tests with feedback. These tests will use the format of the final paper and of the 2 tests only  the better result will contribute to the final mark and

(f) Directed learning.


Overview of Learning Resources

Students will be provided with a lists of relevant text books, library resources (including appropriate journals) and freely accessible Internet sites in class and after discussing this list, it will be posted on-line.


Overview of Assessment

Assessment of this course is via

(a) Written assignment (1)
(b) Tests 
(c) Answers to allocated question(s) during the practical sessions
(d) End of semester examination