FBMPRE: Food Product Reformulation

Module code: FBMPRE

Module provider: Food and Nutritional Sciences; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Atefeh Amiri Rigi, email: a.amiririgi@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Maria Oruna-Concha, email: m.j.oruna-concha@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 5 August 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

You will develop expertise in designing, developing and evaluating reformulated food products thus provided you with the knowledge and understanding of the key pillars in food product reformulation including nutrition, public health, food science, manufacturing, food quality, legislation, consumer perception and business perspective. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Identify and critically discuss the drivers that catalyse for food product reformulation projects in the food industry 
2. Identify the nutritional, public health, technical, manufacturing, quality, legislative, business and financial challenges associated with reformulating food products 
3. Justify reformulation strategies which take account of and balance these challenges, in order to influence stakeholders and the decision-making process within companies 
4. Reflect and critique their performance as part of a multidisciplinary group. 

Module content

• Drivers for food reformulation: factors that could be the catalysis for change from a business perspective and from a global perspective.  
• Nutritional science and public health nutrition perspectives: analysis of the nutritional composition of foods, consumption patterns and implications on public health. Evaluation of strategies to improve the nutritional profile of the product and ways of communicating those changes with consumers. 
• Technical perspective: evaluation of the technological functionality of ingredients during processing. Understanding of the key physic-chemical properties of food products to be assessed to inform and conduct iterative optimisation interventions to improve the quality of the reformulated product. 
• Manufacturing perspective: identify the processing operations needed to manufacture the reference and reformulated food product and create a flow diagram of the process. Understanding the science behind the main piece of equipment selected for each operation and the main changes in ingredients and food product structure that happen during each operation. 
• Quality and legal perspective: assessment of the main critical control points in the manufacturing process to ensure a high quality and safe product. Application and discussion of the relevant legal requirements relating to the reformulated product (ingredient and product specifications, nutritional and health claims, labelling, etc.). 
• Sensory science and consumer perspective: evaluation of the sensory properties of the product to inform the reformulation strategy. Description and application of the main methodologies to evaluate consumer motivation for reformulation and consumer acceptance of the reformulated products. 
• Business perspective: application of key techniques in business innovation and venture creation (business model canvas). Description of the market strategy and analysis of the financial viability of the business idea (cash flow projections).  

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Students will be working in groups; each group will be given a case study on a “food reformulation challenge” and will be required to consider, describe and justify all aspects of the reformulation process.  

Independent learning skills will be developed through engaging with screencasts, published research (TALIS reading list and beyond), etc. 

Group work will promote learning through discussion withing the group, peer-learning, and reflection on individual and group performance. 

Workshops will be used to present their reformulation strategy, discuss gap and challenges, monitor group performance and delivery of formative feedback.  

Practical sessions will provide an opportunity to develop hands-on expertise in specific analytical techniques to evaluate physic-chemical properties of food products. 

Writing skills will be developed through the production of a scientific report in which the reformulation challenge is solved and justified through all the perspectives considered in this module (business, nutritional, public health, technical, manufacturing, quality, legislation, sensory and consumer perception). 

Study hours

At least 36 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

Students taking the MSc in Nutrition and Food Science need to achieve all of the following to pass this module:

1. a mark of 50% in each assessment

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students will receive individual feedback in their corresponding project section during the workshops.  

Students will receive group feedback in their business plan, market segmentation and costing section in a workshop session.  

Students are invited to submit one draft of their public summary to get formative feedback before the submission of the group report. 

Reassessment

Additional costs