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Quality Systems and Environmental Management Tools

Code: 103244
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Food Science and Technology OB 4

Contact lecturer

Name :
José Juan Rodriguez Jerez
Email :
josejuan.rodriguez@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Roger Escriu Justo
Laura Talens Peiro
Raquel Barrena Gomez

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

Have previously studied subjects of hygiene, food technology and human nutrition.

Objectives

1. Describe the fundamental concepts, the historical foundations and the bibliographic bases.

2. Demonstrate that you know the fundamental bases of industrial ecology and waste management.

3. Identify the different wastewater treatment systems and their characterization.

4. Interpret the different types of atmospheric pollutants and their treatments.

5. Demonstrate that you know the different quality assurance and security programs and your organization.

5. Interpret the corresponding certificates and documentation.

6. Discriminate the relevant information and the audit procedure.

7. Analyze the safety certification, its bases and its application.

Learning outcomes

  1. Apply the scientific method to resolving problems.
  2. Search for, manage and interpret information from different sources.
  3. Communicate effectively with both professional and non-professional audiences, orally and in writing, in the first language and/or in English.
  4. Work individually or in unidisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams and in international contexts.
  5. Develop individual learning strategies and planning and organisation skills.
  6. Adopt an ethical stance and attach importance to quality in work.
  7. Show sensitivity to environmental, sanitary and social issues.
  8. Describe the environment-related problems of the food industry.
  9. Identify the underlying principles, the characteristics and the uses of the different systems for treating waste in the form of liquids, solids and gases.
  10. Interpret findings from trials used in studies on quality.
  11. Explain the toxic and environmental hazards deriving from food-processing by-products.
  12. Interpret and justify the scope of quality reports.
  13. Enumerate all the stages of the food supply chain that lead to the attainment of overall food quality, including those of workers' safety.
  14. Identify conformities, non-conformities and irregularities during an audit process.
  15. Compare the various quality systems applicable to process and product.
  16. Propose traceability and documentation methodologies for processes and products.
  17. Validate standardised work procedures .
  18. Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge. 
  19. Identify the principal environmental risks related to businesses in the dairy, meat, fishing and aquaculture, eggs and egg products and fruit and vegetable sectors, and also to group catering businesses, and apply suitable measures for controlling these risks.

Contents

1. Introduction. Basics Bibliography.


2. Tools for minimization. Industrial Ecology, Cleaner Production, Life Cycle Analysis.


3. Waste management. Type of waste, waste management and coding, main waste treatments: composting, anaerobic digestion, thermal treatments.


4. Waste water management and treatment. Characterization of wastewater, main physical, chemical and biological parameters. Main basic operations of wastewater treatment: primary treatments, biological processes, chemical processes.


5. Emissions to the atmosphere. Main atmospheric pollutants: particles, gases and odors. Main basic operations of atmospheric emission treatment.


6. Global quality assurance. Quality assurance programs. Staff and organization.


7. Audits and accreditation. Certificates and documents. Specific cases of certification. Foods with healthy properties, GMOs and others.


8. Food quality and safety. The quality standards applied to food safety.


9. From HACCP to security certification. BRC, IFS, ISO 22000 standards and others.


10. Supplier relationship - client. The audit of the system.

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Theoretical teaching in environmental management tools 18 0.72 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Cases of the subject 71 2.84 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Seminars 11 0.44 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Problems worked in class 30 1.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Theoretical teaching in quality and food safety 18 0.72 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Seminars

9 hours of seminars and discussion of problems:

  • 6 hours seminars to solve problems related to environmental management tools.
  • 4 hours of seminars related to the auditable standards of quality and food safety. The dynamics of the works and the rules of accomplishment will be defined.

Autonomous activities: preparation of the subject based on material that will be given by the professor or bibliography to be able to work later on Cases of Study in class.

 

Practical works

  • Preparation of the subject based on material that will be given by the professor or bibliography to be able to work later, with cases of study in class.
  • Work based on the discussion between suppliers and clients in different situations of conflict, related to quality audits and food security. This work will be carried out in a group. Finally, these works will be presented in class for 10 minutes.

Use of AI

In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted as an integral part of the development of the work, provided that the result reflects a significant contribution from the student in terms of analysis and personal reflection. The student must identify which parts were generated using this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these influenced both the process and the outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI will be considered academic dishonesty and may result in a grade penalty or more serious sanctions in severe cases.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Theoretical evaluation of environmental management tools 25% of the final grade 1 0.04 6, 7, 8, 9
Theoretical evaluation on quality and safety 25% of the final grade 1 0.04 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Resolution of problems related to cases Environmental management tools 15% of the final grade 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19
Oral presentation of the deliverables 10% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 17, 18
Practical work on The vision of the supplier and the client of food products in relation to quality and food safety 15% of the final grade 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
Attendance to mandatory activities 10% of the final grade 0 0 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

The student's evaluation will be carried out based on the following distribution:

1.- Theoretical tests (theoretical exam) 50%

1.1.- Environmental management tools exam 25%

1.2.- Quality exam 25%

2.- Practical tests (cases and problems) 40%

2.1.- Oral presentation 10%

2.2.- Written works 30%

3.- Attendance at mandatory activities 10%

Two theoretical exams will be conducted, with short-answer or multiple-choice questions, for each of the subject's two parts. Passing each theoretical exam is necessary to pass the subject.

The practical tests will be derived from:

• Continuous evaluation of attendance at practices.

• Completion of practical work and case resolutions presented throughout the semester.

• Oral presentations.

Once the first part of the subject (environmental management tools) has been completed, a partial exam will be held, accounting for 25% of the subject grade. When the theoretical content is completed, a second partial exam (quality and safety) will be administered, accounting for the remaining 25% of the theoretical grade.

Students who do not pass either part of the subject will have to take a new theoretical exam to recover the part they did not pass. Once the subject has been evaluated, each student will be told which part they passed and which they must retake. To participate in the recovery, students must have been previously evaluated in activities that account for at least two-thirds of the subject's total grade.

A student will be considered not evaluable if they have participated in evaluation activities representing ≤15% of the final grade.


Any irregularity committed during an assessment activity (including academic misconduct, plagiarism, or the improper use of AI, unless such use is expressly authorised in the course guide) that may lead to a significant alteration of the assessment result will result in a grade of 0 for that assessment. If the course guide stipulates that obtaining a minimum grade in that assessment is an essential requirement to pass the course, or if multiple irregularities occur in different assessment activities within the same course, the final grade for the course will be 0. Furthermore, disciplinary proceedings may be initiated against any student who commits any of these irregularities.

This subject does not contemplate a single evaluation system.

Bibliography

APAA-AWWA-WPCF Washington 1998 20ª Edició. Standard Methods for the examination of water and waste water.

Dillon M. and Griffith C. (Eds), 2001. Auditing in the food industry: from safety and quality to environmental and other audits. CRC Press;: Woodhead.

Dullien, F.A.L. Introduction to industrial gas cleaning. Academic Press, Inc. 1989.

Hoorfar J. et al. (Eds), 2011. Food chain integrity: a holistic approach to food traceability, safety, quality, and authenticity. Woodhead Pub Ltd.

Martínez-Costa M., Martínez-Lorente A.R., Choi T.Y. 2008. Simultaneous consideration of TQM and ISO 9000 on performance and motivation: An empirical study of Spanish companies. Int. J. Production Economics 113:23–39.

Metcalf & Eddy. Ingenieria de aguas residuales. Tratamiento vertido i reutilización. McGraw Hill Inc. 1998

Nemerow, N.L., Dasgupta, A. Tratamiento de vertidos Industriales peligrosos. Ediciones Diaz de Santos. 1998.

Peavy, H.S., Rowe, D.R., Tchobanoglous, G. Environmental Engineering. McGraw Hill Inc. 1985.

Trienekens J., Zuurbier P. 2008. Quality and safety standards in the food industry, developments and challenges. Int. J. Production Economics 113:107–122.

Wark, K., Warner, C.F. Contaminación del aire. Origen y control. Ed. Limisa. 1998.

Software

We will not use any specific software for this subject.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed