FOOD TOXICOLOGY AND FOOD REGULATION

FOOD TOXICOLOGY (2 UFC)
Fundamental toxicology: toxicokinetics, toxicodynamics, bioactivation, dose-response curve, acute, subacute and chronic toxicity, chemical carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, reproductive toxicology.
Toxic phytochemicals: favism, goitrogens, cyanogenetic glycosides, phytoalexin.
Toxin from fungi: mycotoxins, amanita phalloides
Natural toxins in marine foodstuffs
Anthropogenic contaminants: plychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins (PCDDs), heavy metals.
Pesticides: insecticides, herbicides.
Toxicants formed during food processing: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polycyclic aromatic amines (PAAs), N-nitrosamines, acrylamide.

PHARMACOGENETICS, TOXICOGENOMICS AND IN VITRO TOXICOLOGY (4 CFU)
Basic knowledge about in vitro methods: regulatory aspects, applications and validation of alternative in vitro methods.
Biomarkers, definition, classification and examples. Toxicogenomics, pharmacogenetics, surrogate tissue analysis. High-throughput methodologies (i.e., NGS, microarray), bioassays and functional studies helpful in the field of toxicogenomics applied to food science (including specific case-studies)
Lab sessions: spectrophotometric determination of acetyilcholinesterase activity in bovine serum; cells thawing and seeding; medium changing, trypsinization and freezing; incubation with xenobiotics and cytotoxicity testing; enzyme immunoassay (ELISA kit) for the detection of saxitoxins

FOOD REGULATION (2 UFC)
Principles of food legislation and regulation within and outside EU: food safety governance and risk regulation (EU, USA, China), hybridization of food governance between public and private regulation, traceability and the precautionary principle within EU regulation.