Online Course Master English 7.5 ECTS

Microbial Food Safety in a Global Perspective – online course

Unsafe food containing harmful microorganisms cause millions to fall ill and costs billions of dollars in product re-calls. In this course you will learn how to prevent food-borne disease and food waste associated with microbial pathogens.

You will learn about the occurrence, spread and transmission of pathogenic microorganisms in the food chain in a one-health perspective. You will obtain a thorough understanding of the biology of all relevant pathogens causing food-borne disease.

Furthermore, you will get to take a detailed look at the bacterial genome, and how DNA-based methods, such as whole genome sequencing, have become a preferred tool in outbreak investigations.

Through the course, we will discuss how food is contributing to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and how globalization has resulted in an increasingly complex food chain.

The Danish commitment to producing safe food is widely recognized and in this course, experts from the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Serum Institute will share their expertise.

During the course, you will be working with:

Foodborne diseases and food spoilage
The kinetics of bacterial growth and how to reduce it
The microbiota of different classes of food products from farm to fork and more.
The biology and epidemiology of foodborne pathogens of public health significance
The bacterial genome and its evolution
DNA-based methods in outbreak investigation
The transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria via the food chain
Novel intervention strategies and methods in outbreak investigations

Profile of participants

The course is relevant for employees in the public and private sector working with food production, particularly, in the intersection between sustainability, food safety and security, and innovation.

Your outcome

Once you have completed the course, you will be able to:

Describe the concepts of microbial food safety in terms of food spoilage and food borne disease
Explain the microbiology of different types of food products, and discuss the principles of food conservation.
Describe the concepts of microbial growth and bacterial stress responses.
Explain the reservoir and the transmission pathways of the major food-borne microbial pathogens (viruses, bacteria, and parasites) in a one-health perspective and discuss how food preparation and storage select for enrichment of specific pathogens.
Explain the clinical manifestations associated with different microbial hazards and the bacterial virulence factors implicated in disease.
Describe the basic features of the bacterial genome and explain the molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial evolution.
Discuss the molecular methods used in outbreak investigations.
Discuss the risks associated with transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria via the food chain.
Present, interpret and discuss future challenges to microbial safety in a global perspective and suggest strategies for preventing food-borne disease at different levels

Outcome for your organization

Your organization gets an employee who will be able to:

Identify microbial hazards occurring in specific food products
Propose strategies to mitigate and control food-borne outbreaks of disease
Understand DNA-based methods used in investigation of food-born outbreaks
Balancing actions to optimize food safety and sustainable food production
React to national and international food safety issues

The course is part of the Master’s programme Master of Sustainable and Safe Food Production.

You can follow the course as part of the Master’s programme or you can follow it as a single course.

Part of the Master’s programme

If you wish to follow the course as part of the Master of Sustainable and Safe Food Production, please go to the Master’s programme page and sign up for the Master’s programme.

Single course

If you wish to follow this course as a single course, please sign up by clicking the button ‘Add to cart’ in the top of the page. When you click ‘Proceed to checkout’ you can also attach your documentation to apply for admission if you are not admitted yet. You will not be charged for any master courses until you know if your application has been approved.

Admission

To be admitted to this course, you must:

have achieved a relevant medium-cycle education (a professional bachelor’s degree or the like) or a long-cycle higher education programme
have a minimum of two years of work experience in the food science and technology field

Furthermore, you must have a solid foundation in the natural sciences (biology, chemistry, mathematics) as well as an understanding of technical processes in food production lines.

Recommended prerequisites

We recomment that you have theoretical knowledge about basic microbiology and experience from working in the field of food production.

Education session

The course is taught online, the language of instruction is English.

The education sessions consist of e-lectures, Q&A sessions, assignments, casework and a final report.

The e-lectures are available online which means that you can watch them whenever from wherever.

Furthermore, you are offered weekly live Q&A sessions to get in dialogue with the course lecturer and fellow participants.

The majority of the course material will be provided during the course (selected chapters from textbooks, scientific articles, popular science articles, newspaper article, reference webpages).

Information about the software that will be used for the quantitative risk assessments will be provided at course start up.

Exam

The assessment consists of a written report, which counts for 75% of your grade, and an oral exam, which counts for 25% of the grade. The report must be written in English.

The course is offered in the spring in even years (2024, 2026 etc.)

All students are required to pay tuition fees. The prices for the different types of courses are listed below for the Spring 2026 semester.

Prices for EU citizens:

Course of 5 ECTS points: 10000 DKK

Course of 7,5 ECTS points: 15000 DKK

Course of 10 ECTS points: 20000 DKK

Master project of 15 ECTS points 35000 DKK

Full Master’s programme: 125000 DKK

Prices for non-EU citizens:

Course of 5 ECTS points: 13800 DKK

Course of 7,5 ECTS points: 20700 DKK

Course of 10 ECTS points: 27600 DKK

Master project of 15 ECTS points 46400 DKK

Full Master’s programme: 170600 DKK

The state subsidy for part-time education is determined in the Finance Act for one year at a time. DTU reserves the right to make any adjustments to the participant payment.

Payment terms

When you sign up for one of our courses your payment should preferably be made by credit card at our website.

You can also choose invoice payment with a payment term of 30 days. Be aware that invoices will be issued in DKK. Payment transfer in EUR is possible if more convenient to you. However, remember to include the invoice number in the transfer information.

You can only participate in the class once the payment of tuition fee has been registered. We reserve the right to deregister the participant in the event of non-payment. Courses may be cancelled due to insufficient enrolments, for example. In case of cancellation of a purchased course or module, the tuition fee is refunded.