XNB250 Food Chemistry and Technology

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit is in the mid stage of your course and builds on your skills and knowledge of food, nutrition, chemistry and professional communication in year one. The unit exposes you to aspects of food science and technology including the composition of food and its behaviour during processing, food product development, food selection and evaluation and food spoilage and preservation. Laboratory based workshops enable students to develop practical skills in food preparation and use an experimental approach to develop understanding of the scientific principles that govern the changes occurring during food preparation. This unit prepares you for units later in your course that require an ability to apply practical aspects of food and food preparation as part of interventions to prevent or solve nutrition problems.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Explain the relevant compositional, physical, chemical and nutritional changes in the preparation, processing and storage of food taking into consideration cultural factors. [XN43, XN45 CLO-1]
2. Conduct and evaluate food-based experiments incorporating food safety principles. [XN43, XN45 CLO-2, CLO-3]
3. Describe and apply principles of food chemistry to optimise sensory and nutritional properties of food. [XN43, XN45 CLO-2]
4. Describe and apply principles of food regulatory systems. [XN43, XN45 CLO-1]
5. Demonstrate academic and professional core skills including communication, team work, collaboration, time management, and organisational ability. [XN43, XN45 CLO-4]

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit engages you in practical application experiences through a theory to practice approach. You will develop your critical knowledge of food science and have opportunities to apply your knowledge and skills from lectures and readings to experiments conducted during supervised workshops. Both content and organisation is designed for you to assess your progress in the unit and the course and for you to gather evidence of meeting unit and course outcomes.

XNB250 adopts a blended learning approach that integrates technology resources with a two (2) hour lecture and three (3) hour laboratory based workshop where you will engage in collaborative activities with peers, lecturers and tutors.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Feedback to Students
Activities in tutorials will provide feedback on knowledge and understanding to inform your preparation for assessment. There will be time available in all tutorials for you to ask questions on any concepts covered during the lectures to enable clarification. Presentation groups will receive immediate feedback upon completion of their presentation.

Students are encouraged to speak with their unit coordinator/tutor before or after class or to contact the unit coordinator by email with any questions or concerns about the assessment items. Responses to frequently asked questions will be made available to all students through Canvas announcements.

Assessment

Overview

General Assessment Information
Detailed assessment item guidelines and marking criteria is included on the unit Canvas site under 'Assessment'. You are encouraged to check your work against the criteria well before submission to confirm that all tasks are covered in appropriate depth. There are three summative assessment items in this unit that will be undertaken during laboratories and outside the classroom at the end of semester.
Attendance at the orientation and safety workshop and at least four of five of the assessable workshops (see unit map) is a minimum requirement for completion of XNB250. Attendance at workshops is necessary to meet health and safety requirements and also to demonstrate the ability to meet learning outcome 2 (Conduct and evaluate food-based experiments incorporating food safety principles) across key food chemistry reactions. Students can apply for exemptions if they are unable to attend workshops due to 'special circumstances' (see https://qutvirtual4.qut.edu.au/group/student/enrolment/special-circumstances for examples) however they will need to provide evidence. Where possible and time-permitting students will be accommodated in workshops at different times if evidence of 'special circumstances' is provided.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Report

You will be required to write a food report explaining processes involved in the preparation, consumption and storage of a dish that is distinctive of the cuisine for a cultural group. You will discuss relevant sensory, legislative, nutritional and safety factors.

This assessment is authentic as it replicates what dietitians and nutritionists do in practices examining and critiquing food and providing written feedback to relevant persons and organisations.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Assessment: Laboratory

You will be required to organise and lead one workshop, brief and debrief other students, critically evaluate the findings and write a report on the workshop. You will upload summaries of your key learning and findings at the end of each of the other assessable workshops. 

This assessment is authentic as it replicates work that dietitians and nutritionists do organising and delivering food based workshops to clients and stakeholders.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.  Only the submission of documentation (report based on the laboratory demonstration) is an assignment for the purposes of an extension. 

Assessment: Written Examination

You will be required to complete a final theory examination that will test your knowledge of the relevant compositional, physical, chemical and nutritional changes in the preparation, processing and storage of food, and principles of food-based experiments.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Resource Materials

Prescribed text(s)

Croxford, S and Stirling, E. (2017). Understanding the science of food: From molecules to mouthfeel. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin.

Risk Assessment Statement

This unit will involve workshop classes that will be held in a food laboratory area. You will be required to attend the induction session at the commencement of the semester where the safety precautions to be observed while working in the laboratory will be outlined. You are required to read the laboratory safety manual and sign the form indicating that you have read and understood the material contained in the manual. You are required to wear the prescribed safety and hygiene clothing at all lab-based sessions. For the purposes of this requirement, you must wear safe flat, closed in footwear, a long-sleeved chef's jacket, and protective headwear a hair net. Hair nets will be provided in class.