Case Study Teaching for Active Learning on Analytical Quality Assurance Concepts in Relation to Food Safety Exposure Assessment

For food research, control, and production, valid and trustworthy analytical data are important. Our practical chemical food safety course for engineers therefore uses real-life studies for the ease of understanding the concept and the needed requirements for high analytical quality in relation to enabling correct evaluation of chemical food safety. Concepts of chromatography and mass spectrometry were applied and left open for inquiry-based learning and students’ search for information for their actual case study during this 3 week practical course. Three case studies, with three different analytical chemistry challenges, were addressed, namely, iodine, ethyl carbamate, and N-nitrosamine determination by ICP-MS, GC–MS, and LC–MS/MS, respectively. Each group of students successfully concluded one case study by integration of method validation and other appropriate analytical quality concepts with practical conduction of the analysis. The assignment included obtaining their own results, and evaluation of the results in the context of a food safety assessment. Successful vocabulary attainment and learning of quality assurance, analytical concepts, and data evaluation were communicated in report writing as well as oral presentations in front of the other students (in groups) and at the final examination (individually).