Reflections:

Personal

It had been 4 months of bittersweet journey. There were moments of frustrations, fatigue, happiness and sadness. This subject comprises many aspects thus great amount of hard-work is needed and appreciated. This is the third Problem-Based Learning subject. Though we have experiences from the previous two, this subject is slightly different. We have to learn to juggle both project work and internship at the same time. Most importantly, we have to learn to communicate and work effectively as there was no tutorial or lecture going on. Our mode of communication was MSN, SMS or Email. Initially, I encountered some difficulties in balancing both work and studies. The mode of learning was indeed challenging. I was challenged to plan my time wisely. As the project progresses, I truly understand the importance of having good time management, effective communication, teamwork and prioritizing.

There were times I had to skipped my lunch hours to check ole blackboard or do research. In the past, I can easily access to library resources as and when. But, with internship, I am not able to. Often, I had to make trips down to school at late evenings to borrow books. To add on, I even brought the books along with me so I can read in on MRT every morning.

Sad to say, some books were not relevant and useful at all. I even asked my colleague who had a degree in food science and technology for help but no avail. Thus, I had to rely on myself for research. I asked my colleagues for their user and password to search for relevant journal articles. I searched endlessly on the internet, trying all types of keywords, in hope to find articles or website that is relevant. During the process of researching, I realized the importance of effective re-search skills. One have to research the appropriate “key words”, if not, you are wasting your time. In some cases, the result might not be the one that you want. I cannot be stubborn, to keep searching the same key word. I had to be flexible. Some of the information gathered was not relevant to our project. But, it improves my general knowledge and at the same time, keep me updated on our environment.

Package1

Package1 was manageable for us as all of us have some knowledge prior to that. Despite that, it was still challenging to fill the respective tables and identify the CCPs as many of us have different opinion.

My task was to focus on HACCP and address each identified CCPS. The understanding of HACCP concepts from FPQA helped me a lot. I am able to summarise the background for HACCP easily. However, for the 7 principles, I cannot focus too much as that’s not the main focus. Thus, I am challenged to pick out points from each principles that allows readers to know what’s HACCP 7 principles is all about by one glance. I had to read the principles countless times before I am able to summarise it. The constant reading allows me to understand the principles better. All 7 principles are equally important. If one principle fails, the entire system fails. It’s the backbone of HACCP.

Next, I had to explain how the each CCPs was identified. For this area, I realized I could not remember much of what was taught. Hence, I went to look for microbiology and FPQA notes. With the help of the notes and “RETAIL FOOD SYSTEMS RESEARCH CONFERENCE-FSMS / HACCP PROCESS DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION COURSE FOR REGULATORS AND INDUSTRY: HOW TO WRITE AND APPROVE A HACCP FSMS”, I managed to find evidence to support our CCPs. The “RETAIL FOOD SYSTEMS RESEARCH CONFERENCE-FSMS” is very beneficial to my learning. It gave a wide overview of HACCP, food borne pathogens, food management system, Tolerable level of risk/ appropriate level of protection, the FDA and HACCP standards.

This report sure widens my knowledge a lot and I am glad to say, I know a lot on HACCP now. Besides, Nicholas’s part on product recall is something new to me and I do benefit from it. Initially, I did not know there are so many classes of re-call. Now, I know, there are 3 classes of recall.

Package 2

Package2 was challenging for me. I was tasked to research on detection and isolation of food borne pathogens. It seems to be very profound and difficult to understand. I was rather lost, not knowing how I should start. It was not an alien topic to us. Personally, I know what genetically modified food is. They are foods with genes being altered to provide better yield. But, this package challenges us to apply various techniques and principles used in the modification process. It was a tough search. After researching, I realized genetically modified food is more of biotechnology based and it's not as scary and profound as i thought. There were many reputable websites like FDA, USDA etc that provides good information for our project; it was not something new to the world.

With the findings on hand, the next task was to comprehend and summarise it. There were big terms and words. I do not comprehend most of the terms. I had to read it countless times. I even resort to YouTube, in hope of picturing it visually. Lucky, there were quite a number of good videos available. By viewing it visually, i understand better now. Now, the next task was to summarise the findings, there were too many articles and information. I had to highlight the most appropriate ones for our project. The entire experience was fantastic, I found out many types of techniques used in GM food(Bacterial Carriers, Calcium Phosphate Precipitation etc) and also different types of identification and isolation of food borne pathogens(PRC-based, Immunoassays,DNA Hybridization etc) I am sure these research will be helpful for my test and other subjects.

Group

As a group, I am glad to say we had improved a lot. All of us are attached to different companies, locally and overseas. Also, all of us have different working styles. Initially, we have difficulties communicating with our friend over at china. But we are glad that he took the initiative to communicate with us once his network is being set up. For induction package, we have been side-tracking a little, not discussing important points to focus. Most of us have different opinion and often, we spend time debating over the issue. Some of us were late for meetings or did not turn up. However, as the project progresses, everyone start to discuss points to focus on and full attendance was noted. Everyone participates in the discussion and is willing to accept the set deadline. Many of them submitted their work earlier than the set dealine. It was a good effort and commendable! Deadlines are always good as it helps us to prioritize and plan our schedule. It been a long journey for most of us, but I am glad, I have cooperative group-mates that shares good information on OLE for each other and always there to lend a hand to clear each other’s doubts. I am glad that we scored A for Package1's FILA chart. Most importantly, after this project, I am very proud and equipped to say that: Food safety is beneficial and TP prepares us for the word! The skills i learnt will equipped me for semester 3.2 and Major Project! Now, all the best for our Test2 and report! Thankyou for the hardwork!

Posted by: Alicia Chee