Food legislation - Prof. Pierina Visciano - a.y. 2025/2026
Food science and technology - 2nd year
Topic outline
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Graduation cum laude in Veterinary Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Naples "Federico II".
PhD in "Inspection of Food of Animal Origin" at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Naples "Federico II".
Specialist in "Inspection of Food of Animal Origin" at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Naples "Federico II".
Assignment of collaboration as Coadjutor Veterinary at the Department of Food Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Ministry of Health in Rome.
Full Researcher VET/04 (Inspection of Food of Animal Origin) at the University of Teramo.
Associate Professor MVET-02/B (Inspection of Food of Animal Origin) at the University of Teramo.
National Scientific Qualification as Full Professor MVET-02/B (Inspection of Food of Animal Origin).
Member of the Quality Assurance Committee for the master degree in Food Science & Technology of the Department of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo.
Member of the Students Practices Committee of the Department of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo.
Member of the Committee for the "Gender Equality Plan" of University of Teramo.
Reference component for the Department of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment of the School of Legality and Justice of the University of Teramo.
Co-author of the book “Igiene degli alimenti – Aspetti igienico-sanitari degli alimenti di origine animale” - Schirone M., Visciano P. (2014), Collana Edagricole Università & Formazione, Bologna.
Co-author of the book "Igiene nei processi alimentari - Progettazione della sicurezza degli alimenti" - Paparella A., Schirone M., Visciano P. (2023), Editore Ulrico Hoepli, Milano.
OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
There are no specific prerequisites; however, knowledge of food microbiology and hygiene, food legislation, biochemistry, and human nutrition is particularly important.
At the beginning of the course, the teacher will assess the knowledge acquired in the previous studies through multiple-choice tests, the results of which are not considered in the final grade. This will ensure a uniform level of learning in the specific topics of this course.
The course is single-subject, but for some content, it integrates with other subjects from Food Science and Technology master degree.
DESCRIPTORS OF DUBLIN
1) knowledge and understanding
The course will provide students with an in-depth understanding of national and European Union (EU) food legislation, covering the entire food supply chain "from farm to fork," from raw materials and their processing under the responsibility of food business operators (FBOs), to distribution to the final consumer.
Students will acquire the ability to:
- understand and interpret EU food safety regulations;
- be constantly updated on current, amended, and repealed regulations;
- understand the importance of harmonizing national rules with EU legislation, according to the principle of hierarchy of sources, to integrate them into a regional or local context.
2) applying knowledge and understanding
The knowledge acquired during the course will enable students to enter the complex agri-food production sector, demonstrating their ability to apply the current regulatory principles and regulations regarding food safety and providing effective support to FBOs.
They must be able to:
- operate in both small and medium-large sized businesses, applying the self-monitoring procedures required by current legislation, which assigns primary responsibility to FBOs;
- identify and manage product and process non-conformities in compliance with current legislation;
- address health emergencies with targeted and effective interventions based on progressive scientific knowledge of food hazards and foods at risk for consumers.
3) making judgements
A thorough understanding of the legislation will enable students to be fully independent in applying specific food safety requirements. Specifically, they will demonstrate to:
- Identify the main hazards that may arise in a food industry using a risk analysis approach;
- estimate dietary exposure to various food hazards using specific criteria established by EFSA or other international organizations, such as the acceptable daily intake, acute reference dose, benchmark dose, threshold value, margin of exposure, etc.;
- be able to assess the severity of the hazard based on specific consumer parameters, such as age, body weight, average or high consumption, particular life stages, or individual sensitivities (risk categories);
- be able to assess the severity of the hazard based on food-related factors such as packaging type, storage method, intended use, etc.
4) communication skills
Students must demonstrate the ability to transfer to FBOs the knowledge and information regarding the general requirements of food legislation acquired during the course. They must also be able to describe the procedures relating to FBO obligations through ongoing staff training, in light of recent regulatory provisions promoting a food safety culture. They must also demonstrate the ability to interact with the competent authorities responsible for carrying out official control activities, in order to predict and/or challenge any administrative sanctions or penalties that could be imposed on a food business.
5) learning skills
Students will acquire the ability to independently identify and explore any issue related to the agri-food sector from a legislative perspective. To this end, students, divided into groups, will complete a research project at the end of the course on legislative topics not covered in class, demonstrating their ability to learn independently and stay up-to-date on current legislation.
Unit 1.
The legal system. The hierarchy of sources. Sources of Community law.
Primary law: Treaties and Agreements.
Secondary law: Regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations, opinions.
The decision-making institutions of the European Union: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Commission.
The ordinary legislative procedure or co-decision.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA): decision-making role, structure, and functioning.
Unit 2.
General food hygiene and safety requirements.
Obligations of food business operators.
Regulation 178/2002/EC.
Regulation 852/2004/EC.
Regulation 2073/2005/EC.
Unit 3.
Specific requirements for products of animal origin.
Regulation 853/2004/EC.
Meat supply chain: animal identification, food chain information, slaughter hygiene, and process hygiene criteria for carcasses.
Trichinellosis (Reg. 1375/2015/EU).
Bivalve mollusc supply chain: classification of production areas, health standards for bivalve molluscs, marine biotoxins.
Fish supply chain: health standards for fishery products, freshness criteria, histamine, parasites, poisonous fish.
Milk and dairy supply chain: milking hygiene, health requirements for raw milk, process hygiene criteria for dairy products.
Egg and egg product supply chain. Marketing standards for eggs (Reg. 1308/2013/EU; Reg. 2464/2023/EU; Reg. 2465/2023/EU; Reg. 2466/2023/EU).
Unit 4.
Residues in food and dietary exposure assessment.
Benchmarks for consumer risk assessment.
Veterinary drugs (Reg. 470/2009/EU; Reg. 37/2010/EU).
Environmental contaminants (Reg. 915/2023/EU).
Food additives (Reg. 1331/2008/EC; Reg. 1333/2008/EC).
Unit 5.
Food labelling (Regulation 1169/2011/EU).
Animal by-products (Regulation 1069/2009/EU; Regulation 142/2011/EU).
Novel foods (Regulation 2283/2015/EU; Regulation 2470/2017/EU).
Organic production (Regulation 848/2018/EU).
Unit 6.
Official controls by the competent authority (Reg. 625/2017/EU; Reg. 627/2019/EU).
The National Integrated Plan for Official Controls. Community and national reference laboratories.
Sanctions applicable to violations of food law.
Management of non-compliance in food production.
The teaching activity will be carried out through lectures with the support of learning aids.
Number of class hours per week: 4 h
Face-to-face teaching: 40 h
Case studies/final project: 8 h
Paparella A., Schirone M., Visciano P. Igiene nei processi alimentari. Hoepli Editore, 2023.
Bernd van der Meulen, Bart Wernaart. EU Food Law Handbook. 2020. ISBN: 978-90-8686-350-1.
EU legislation from the European Union website (https://www.eurlex.com)
National legislation from the Official Journal (https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/)
Lecture presentations uploaded to the University E-Learning platform.
In addition to regular office hours reserved for students, tutoring services are available upon formal request from interested students.
The teacher is available to serve as a tutor for professional internship activities and for thesis preparation at local food companies or laboratories of analysis.
Achievement of the learning objectives will be assessed through:
- an intermediate test on topics not covered during the course (30 multiple-choice questions);
- a group project on a topic related to current legislation not covered during the course;
- a final oral exam.
Only the results of the intermediate test will be considered for the final grade, calculated by averaging the grades of the intermediate test and the final oral exam.
For non-attending students and working students, achievement of the learning objectives will be assessed through a final oral exam.
Study materials will be provided to students via the University E-Learning platform.
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2 - 3 October
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9 - 10 October
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16 - 17 October
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24 October (9.00-13.00)
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6 - 7 November
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