A Food Safety Management Toolkit for Merchant's Quay Ireland and Carmichael House

Lecturer: Greg Burke

As part of the Masters in Science in Food Safety Management (DT 437, School of Food Science & Environmental Health, Faculty of Tourism and Food, DIT), students taking the Food Safety Management Toolkit Module participated in a very successful project. The core objective of the project was to determine how effectively the graduate students could apply their learning in food safety management in an integrated, practical manner which assisted the client to improve food safety. In this case the clients were Merchant's Quay Ireland and Carmichael House.

What do the students get from it?

In eighteen months the students learned to apply the classroom knowledge in food safety management and were able to offer a very high calibre of advice and make very practical recommendations to the client. Equally importantly, it gave each student an experience of professional practice for charitable purposes, something most had not previously experienced. In some instances this will sow a seed for similar actions in later careers.

What do the community get from it?

A master-list of food safety recommendations was presented to the Management and Catering staff of Merchant's Quay Ireland and Carmichael house. Carmichael House had in the meantime acted on the verbal advice from the students and achieved huge improvements in their own operating systems. They had utilised a capital grant to improve the previously weak equipment base; increased the range and quality of foods on offer; and decreased food costs by changing suppliers.  The level of operating food safety had improved and waste volumes had decreased. 

Community Partners: