Micro-certificate program: Food Safety Management

Dr. Anubhav Pratap-Singh holds the Endowed Professor in Food & Beverage Innovation, and chairs the Food Hub Network Academic Coordination Committee. Dr. Pratap-Singh is the Academic Director for this Micro-certificate Program. Dr. Pratap-Singh’s research group in the Food Nutrition and Health Program of the Faculty of Land & Food Systems explores novel technologies for preservation and quality extension of food products. Dr. Pratap-Singh serves on the Executive Board of the British Columbia Food Technologists’ Association (BCFT), and on the Section Advisory Council of the Canadian Institute of Food Science & Technology (CIFST) Association. Dr. Pratap-Singh also represents the Faculty of Land & Food Systems at the UBC Vancouver Senate and serves on the UBC Academic Policy Committee and the UBC Research & Scholarship Committee.

Dr. Farahnaz Fathordoobady is a Research assistant/ Instructor in Food, Nutrition & Health program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia. She is the program manager of this Micro-certificate program. Dr. Fathordoobady is supervising the Food Process Engineering Pilot Plant and is experienced in developing advanced processing techniques (thermal/non-thermal) to control the activity of pathogenic microorganism for food-safe production. She is the Lab instructor of “Advances in Food Process Science” (FOOD 524) for “Master of Food Science” program at UBC. Dr. Fathordoobady has also been working on developing innovated plant-based food additive formulations such as encapsulated natural food colorant with potential antioxidant activity, stable nano-emulsion systems and packaging films containing fruit puree, to enhance the product shelf-life and preserve the quality of food and beverage products. She is also a member of Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) of Nanomedicines Innovation Network (NMIN).

Nancy Ross, BSc (Food Science), MAgr., University of Guelph. Nancy has enjoyed a variety of experiences in her career as a food scientist, working for the past 25 years in Vancouver as an independent food consultant. She has worked with a wide range of companies and assisted the owners of many micro- and small-scale food processors. Nancy also helped design the Commissary Connect Laurel Street facility – BC’s first regional full scale food innovation and processing hub. Nancy was a director for the Small-Scale Food Processors Association (SSFPA) for many years and now serves as chair of the Agrarians Foundation. Nancy is a faculty member at UBC in the role of sessional instructor for two courses. FNH 403 Food Law, Regulations and Quality Assurance is a prerequisite course for Food Science graduates that provides basic HACCP food safety training. A second course that is part of the MFS curriculum (FOOD 512, HACCP and Food Safety Management) provides a more in-depth analysis of food safety principles and techniques. Her extensive background and varied experiences provide her students with a variety of real-world experiences and much food for thought.

Alberto Mendoza-Galina, BSc Biochemistry Engineering. He is specialized in food sciences and technology, he is also a GFSI consultant/auditor, HACCP certified by the UN/FAO and the USDC/NMFS, his work has taken him to countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, USA, and Canada, working in different production environments from aquaculture, farming/harvesting, processing, and distribution, to retail and food service establishments; in diverse industries, including, dairy, meat, poultry, seafood, beverage, canning, preserved foods, produce, confectionary, natural products, nutritional supplements, and entrée ready-to-eat products. His area of expertise lies in designing food safety and food quality management systems informed through hazard analysis and risk assessment. He works as an auditor for Merieux NutriSciences in Chicago, USA. At UBC he teaches the following courses, FNH 414 Sustainability and the Food Industry, AQUA 507 Seafood Processing, FOOD 516 Advanced Food Safety and Food Quality Management, and FOOD 527A Special Topics in Food Sciences. He is the science advisor and co-founder of two projects, aquaponics and Oreocromis aureus (tilapia) aquaculture, and Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) aquaculture in closed systems.

Rebecca Robertson, BSc (Microbiology), MSc (Food Science). Rebecca has extensive industry experience having provided technical consulting to the food and natural health product industry over the last 25 years. She is a Food Technology instructor and Research Associate for the Natural Health Products and Food Research Group at BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology). In 2020, she completed a master’s degree at the University of British Columbia during which her research focused on the use of continuous improvement tools to improve food safety and quality programs in the food manufacturing sector. Her projects combine science and business as this is the key to offering practical, economical solutions that work in a business context. This practical approach is embedded into all the food safety courses that Rebecca teaches including food technology courses, food safety courses for industry, and a new course for UBC, Food Safety and Quality Management.