Food safety management, particularly for microbial hazards, is undergoing revolutionary change internationally. Essentially, a more holistic approach is being advocated that relies on analysis and synthesis of knowledge and data from several scientific disciplines. The approach is termed 'risk analysis’.

This unit will consider the cause and nature of physical, chemical and microbial food-borne hazards; technologies for detection, quantification and elimination of hazards in foods; and provide theoretical and applied instruction on contemporary methods of food safety management, with particular emphasis on quantitation, probability and mathematical modelling approached (e.g. predictive microbiology), statistical sampling methods, risk assessment, stochastic modelling approaches). Greater emphasis is given to control of microbial hazards. The unit considers how these tools and knowledge can be used to improve understanding of food safety risk associated with particular foods and how those insights can be, and are, translated into practical strategies to manage the safety of food in individual businesses and along entire supply chains.