AGR 233 - Food Production, Safety, Biosecurity, and Quality Control at Wytheville Community College
Course Description
Effective: 2012-01-01
Explores food production practices and their influence on food product quality, nutrition, and safety. Covers processing techniques for reducing spoilage, increasing farmer's share of the food dollar and diversifying farm incomes. Includes analytical methods for tracking and reporting quality control practices. Explores equipment, packaging, laws, regulations, standards, and financial sources for on farm and small-scale processing.
3 Lecture, 0 Lab, 3 Credits
3 credits
General Course Purpose
Preserve, process, and market food products to maximize value and maintain quality and security of our food supply.
Course Objectives
- Preserve, process, and market various milk, meat, poultry, crop, vegetable, and fruit products on a commercial basis
- Separate value added food by-products during processing
- Calculate and maximize total value of a product or process based on individual value of retail components
- Maintain and monitor biosecurity, safety, and quality of food
- Apply quantitative and sensory techniques to measure food quality
- Package, weigh, and measure food products
- Explain food grading standards
- Comply with food laws, regulations, and standards
- Identify state and federal regulatory agencies associated with food processing and safety and discuss roles of each
Major Topics to be Included
- Dairy Food Products - milk, ice cream, butter, and cheese
- Meat Products - meat, sausage, drying, curing, smoking, freezing, and packaging
- Poultry Products - meat, eggs
- Fruit, Vegetable, and Crop Products
- Value Added Processing - jams & jellies, pickles & relishes, sauces & condiments
- Valuable By-Products - rendering. tallow, blood, bone, compost, anaerobic digestion of wastes