Food Toxicology
Code: 103257Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Food Science and Technology | OB | 3 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Eva Castells Caballe
- Email :
- eva.castells@uab.cat
Teaching staff
- Nuria Masip Sales
- Angel Bistue Rovira
- Eva Castells Caballe
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
Although there are no official prerequisites, it is advisable that the student has acquired the competencies associated with the following subjects: chemistry, animal, plant and cell biology and human physiology. A part of the recommended bibliography, of the readings and of the materials worked in class will be in English, reason why it is recommended that the student has minimum abilities in this language.
Objectives
Foods contain a large number of chemical, natural and synthetic compounds that can represent a food safety problem. Some of these substances are added to foods deliberately during processing, such as additives (dyes, preservatives, etc.). Other substances, however, are naturally found in food (toxins) or as a result of accidental or intentional environmental pollution (pesticides, metals, drugs, industrial waste, etc.). The main objective of food toxicology is assessing the presence of toxic compounds in food and their relation to adverse effects on human health. This course will offer a broad vision of various branches of toxicology, including environmental toxicology, quantitative toxicology, experimental toxicology, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics.
The students will develop the following competences:
a) Knowledge: to demonstrate knowledge on the main types of toxic substances present in foods and the methods of risk assessment as a result of the chemical intake of chemical contaminants
b) Abilities: to master analytical techniques that are common to food toxicology laboratories
c) Attitudes: to become aware on the presence of contaminants in the food chain
Learning outcomes
- Analyse, summarise, resolve problems and make professional decisions.
- Apply the scientific method to resolving problems.
- Design experiments and interpret the results.
- Search for, manage and interpret information from different sources.
- Use IT resources for communication, the search for information within the field of study, data processing and calculations.
- Work individually or in unidisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams and in international contexts.
- Develop individual learning strategies and planning and organisation skills.
- Discern the circumstances and processes that can lead to the appearance of toxics in water, drinks and foods that are in storage or being processed.
- Describe the fundamental principles that govern experimental toxicology (evaluation of toxicity) and analytical toxicology.
- Select, collect and send samples for microbiological and toxicological analysis, and write the corresponding report for the receiving laboratory.
- Use the basic preparatory and analytic techniques of a toxicology and microbiology laboratory, always applying the basic safety regulations, and write the corresponding expert report.
- Recognise and identify the principal toxic agents, their action mechanisms and their presence, by accident or design, in water, drinks or foods.
- Describe the principles behind toxicology of the environment and ecotoxicology,
- Relate exposition to a toxic to the appearance of a particular symptomatology or pathology, in particular with the aim of establishing the origin and the agent of a particular contamination or food poisoning case.
- Determine the nutritional risk factors related to obesity, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other diseases of nutritional origin.
- Describe national and international nutritional risk prevention strategies.
Contents
THEORY PROGRAM
SECTION A. INTRODUCTION TO TOXICOLOGY
Unit 1. Introduction to food toxicology (SEM, TE)
Unit 2. Basic principles of toxicology (TE). Factors that determine toxicity: the substance, the organism and the environment
SECTION B. TOXIC SUBSTANCES PRESENTS TO FOODS
Unit 3. Industrial Contaminants and Pesticides (TE). Introduction to pollution. Historical perspective Classification of pollutants. Heavy metals. Dioxins. Pesticides. Radioactivity Microplastics. Emerging pollutants. PBT and vPvB substances
Unit 4. Toxics originated during food processing and storage. Adulterants (SEM). Substances generated during cooking. Transfer of substances from packaging. Substances added illegally to food.
Unit 5. Toxins from plants, animals and fungi (TE). General introduction to toxins. Phytotoxin poisoning: Control and Prevention. Variability in the production of phytotoxins. Main groups of phytotoxins. Intoxication by ingestion of mushrooms. Marine toxins Poisoning by bivalves. Poisoning by fish consumption.
SECTION C. PHASES OF TOXICITY: FROM EXPOSURE TO EFFECTS
Unit 6. Environmental toxicology (TE). The compartments in the earth: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. Mobility of contaminants by the environment. Transport in fluids. Bioaccessibility. Partition coefficients H ', Koc and Kow. Bioaccumulation. Biomagnification
Unit 7. Toxicokinetics (TE). Dose and internal exposure. Absorption. Type of cellular transport. Absorbtion pathways. Absorption rates. Distribution Pre-systemic elimination. Plasma proteins. Accumulation and remobilization. Phases I and II metabolism. Characteristics of metabolism: specificity, induction and inhibition.Detoxification and metabolic activation. Excretion. Relationship between metabolism and excretion.
Unit 8. Toxicodynamics (TE). Types of toxiceffects. Molecular toxicity. Toxicity in organs and systems. Genotoxicity Carcinogenesis. Teratogenesis. Endocrine disruptors
SECTION D. TOXICITY ASSESSMENT
Unit 9. Analytical toxicology (PLAB). Chemical and biological monitoring. Phases of chemical monitoring: pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical. Extraction, purification and determination of an analyte. Chromatography. Calculation of concentrations. Interpretation of toxicological analysis.
Unit 10. Quantitative toxicology. Dose-response and evaluation of toxicological risk (TE). Dose and concentration concept. Type of answer. Acute toxicity index (DL50, CL50). Subchronic toxicity index (NOAEL and LOAEL). Maximum exposure limits (ADI, TDI, RfD). Uncertainty factors Maximum permissible concentrations (MRL). Characterization of toxicological risk.
Unit 11. Experimental toxicology methods to determine toxicity (TE). Models to evaluate toxicity. Theoretical estimates. In vitro studies. In vivo studies. Epidemiological studies. Communication of toxicological risk. Globally Harmonized System (GHS). Labeling of chemical products and safety sheets.
Unit 12. Synthesis of the subject (SEM, TE).
In parentheses, the academic typology corresponding to each topic is indicated:
TE Class of theory and classroom activities
SEM Seminar
PLAB Lab practice
PROGRAM OF LABORATORY AND SEMINARS
Laboratory practices
Qualitative, semiquantitative and quantitative determination of toxic substances present in foods using chromatographic techniques (5 sessions of 3 hours)
Seminars
Individual and collaborative work for the resolution of practical cases and search for information in toxicology databases (3 sessions of 3 hours)
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 26 | 1.04 | 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 |
| Study cases and problems | 18 | 0.72 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14 |
| Seminars | 9 | 0.36 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 |
| Laboratory practice | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 |
| Study | 70 | 2.8 | 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 |
| Mentoring | 4 | 0.16 | 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 |
Several methodologies will be combined so that the student has an especially active role throughout his training process:
1) Theory classes. The theory classes include lectures and participative classroom activities, some of which will be evaluable. These sessions will be complemented by diverse teaching materials that will be delivered to students through the Moodle platform.
2) Seminars. These are sessions of work with a smaller number of students based on questions or exercises for their accomplishment in class.
3) Laboratory practice. The student will perform several analytical techniques that are habitual in laboratories of analytical nutrition toxicology. In laboratory practices, you must bring the practicals script, the robe and a calculator.
For this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed exclusively in support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, correction of texts or translations. The student will have to clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how they have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. The non-transparency of the use of AI in this assessable activity will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may lead to a partial or total penalty in the grade of the activity, or greater sanctions in cases of severity.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test of laboratory practice | 15% | 1 | 0.04 | 1, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 |
| Final exam | 50% | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 |
| Study cases and problems | 35% | 5 | 0.2 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 |
The subject will be evaluated by means of cases and problems carried out in the classroom and as homework (35%), a test of the laboratory practice (15%), and a final exam of all subject contents (50%).
To pass the subject, the mark for the final exam will have to be equal to or greater than 5 and, additionally, the overall mark of the subject (calculated from the weighted average of all activities) must be equal or higher to 5.0. Therefore, it will be considered that the subject is suspended when:
- The final exam does not reach a minimum of 5. In this case the final grade will appear as 'fail' regardless of the note of the rest of the activities
- The final exam is equal to or greater than 5, but the overall average of the subject is less than 5.0
When the student does not perform any of the assessment activities, this will score as 0. It will be considered that a student is not evaluable when their participation in assessment activities represents ≤ 15% of the final grade. In order to be able to take the recovery exam the student must have been previously evaluated in a set of activities that represent a minimum of two thirds of the final grade of the subject. The grade of the recovery exam will replace the grade of the final exam.
This course do not uses the one-time evaluation system.
Bibliography
BOOKS
CONNELL D. et al. Introduction to ecotoxicology. Blackwell Science, 1999
CROSBY D.G. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Oxford University Press. 1998
HARRISON R.M. Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Control. Royal Society of Chemistry, 1990
HELFERICH W, WINTER CK. Food Toxicology. CRC Press, 2001
HILL MK, Understanding Environmental Pollution, Cambridge University Press. 2010
HODGSON E, A. Textbook of Modern Toxicology. Wiley-Interscience, 2004
* KLAASSEN CD, WATKINS JB. Fundamentos de Toxicología. McGraw-Hill, 2005
NEWMAN MC, UNGER MA. Fundamentals of Ecotoxicology. Lewis Publishers. 2002
PÜSSA T. Principles of Food Toxicology. CRC Press, 2007
* REPETTO M, REPETTO G. Toxicología Fundamental. Ed. Díaz de Santos, 2024
TIMBRELL JA. Principles of Biochemical Toxicology. Taylor &Francis, 2000
WALKER C.H. et al. Principles of ecotoxicology. Taylor &Francis, 2006
* Recommended as textbooks
TUTORIALS
TOXTUTOR https://www.toxmsdt.com/0-toxtutor-home.html
LINKS OF INTEREST IN FOOD TOXICOLOGY
Rapid Alert for Food and Feed //ec.europa.eu/food/safety/rasff_en
Open Food Tox www.efsa.europa.eu/en/data/chemical-hazards-data
Pesticides EU-MRL //ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/eu-pesticides-database/public/?event=homepage&language=EN
European Food Safety Authority www.efsa.europa.eu/
Agència Catalana de Seguretat Alimentària //acsa.gencat.cat/ca/inici
Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición https://www.aesan.gob.es/AECOSAN/web/home/aecosan_inicio.htm
Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov
PubChem https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Buscatox busca-tox.com/
Software
none
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 | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 1 | Catalan | first semester | afternoon |
| (SEM) Seminars | 1 | Catalan | first semester | afternoon |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 2 | Catalan | first semester | afternoon |
| (SEM) Seminars | 2 | Catalan | first semester | afternoon |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 3 | Catalan | first semester | afternoon |
| (SEM) Seminars | 3 | Catalan | first semester | afternoon |