This year’s winner of the safefood Student prize was Rebecca Jenkinson, Queens University Belfast. The prize was awarded for an essay on the theme, 'Food: Is it safe to eat?'. In the following interview, Rebecca, a graduate of the Food Quality, Safety and Nutrition course offered at QUB, tells safefood about her interest in food science and future career plans.
1. Why did you decide to study Food Science?
Throughout my post-primary education I always had a keen interest in all aspects of food. The processes food passes through from farm to fork really fascinated me. My desire and passion to greater my knowledge and understanding of all things related to food made studying Food Science an attractive prospect for me. Furthermore, the diversity of the BSc Food Quality, Safety and Nutrition course at Queen’s University, Belfast really appealed to me and ultimately made the decision to study Food Science an easy one.
2. What aspect of your degree did you enjoy the most?
I thoroughly enjoyed all of the modules of the course, as no two modules were the same. Enjoyable activities of the course included the sensory analysis of food items to assess their quality, creating goat’s milk ice-cream as part of a business module and a group debate on use of organic food. In addition, the ‘Food Quality and Safety’ module in particular gave me a great insight into present and emerging food safety issues and the risks they pose.
3. The theme for the essay was, 'Food, is it safe to eat?' - what area did you focus on, and what did you find out?
For my essay I chose to focus on the Hepatitis A risk in frozen berries. Mixed frozen berries caused an outbreak of Hepatitis A across 12 European countries in 2013-14. Despite ongoing investigations the source of contamination could not be confirmed. However, the outbreak was believed to be associated with contaminated redcurrants from Poland and blackberries from Bulgaria. Whether contamination happened during freezing or primary production is inconclusive. However, there was no evidence to suggest fresh berries were contaminated. Therefore, contamination during freezing was likely. There have been a number of other Hepatitis A incidents from berries. In 2003 there was an outbreak of Hepatitis A from frozen berries in New Zealand and in 2013 a similar outbreak in Egypt. This suggests there may be a sustained issue within berry production. Thus, I believe it is imperative protective measures are in place in the berry industry to eliminate biological hazards in the future. These include effective hand washing and toilet facilities, as well as the use of protective clothing. As infected berry handlers have been the source of other Hepatitis A outbreaks from berries, perhaps there is the need for all berry handlers to be vaccinated against Hepatitis A. Heat treating berries destroys the Hepatitis A virus. However, as berries are fragile, their quality suffers. Consumers have the right to demand frozen berries which are safe, without the annoyance of having to process berries further, especially if this adversely affects their quality.
4. What are your plans for the future?
The beauty of studying Food Science is that there are a range of career prospects available to you, whether you choose to enter the food industry, health promotion, research or the Nutrition/Dietetics route. I personally have accepted a place to study a PGCE in Home Economics at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, with the aim to teach post-primary aged pupils Home Economics. I believe it is important to equip people at a young age with the practical and theoretical skills for cooking safe and delicious culinary dishes.
5. What can be done to support food students/graduates in their early careers?
From speaking to fellow food students/graduates and going on personal experience, perhaps there is a greater need for informing and highlighting the roles and tasks entailed in different careers relating to food. Therefore, food students/graduates have a greater understanding of what is expected of them in different careers. To help achieve this, I believe it is important to get has much experience as possible in careers relating to food. As part of the food course at Queen’s, students have to do a 12 week or 46 week placement. This is a great learning experience for food students, as it prepares them for the working world and helps them decide what type of food career appeals to them.
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