Cognition of Food Toxicology Course in a Traditional Chinese Medicine University

To understand the cognition of the Food Toxicology course in the Food Hygiene and Nutrition major in a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) University, and to provide references for the better teaching of the Food Toxicology course in TCM universities. Methods Fifty Food Hygiene and Nutrition major undergraduates in the class of 2016 were selected as research objects, using the cluster sampling method in a TCM university. The questionnaires were compiled and filled out by students before their first class. Results In this study, 93.88% of the students thought it necessary to set up Food Toxicology course, and 97.96% of them were willing to take the course. The main reason given was that curriculum knowledge was very important and will be helpful in their future work. The main form of study preferred by the majority of respondents (79.59%) was compulsory courses, and 61.22% aimed to master their knowledge of Food Toxicology course. In addition, 97.96% thought that the Food Toxicology course would be useful in their future work. Students had a relatively high cognition of dose-response relationship, food safety assessment and food risk analysis, while their cognition of food toxicology concept was the lowest. Some differences were noted regarding the effect of different cognitive levels of core knowledge on classification, and the course could be divided into three parts for teaching purposes. Conclusion Through the investigation detailed in this study, we now have a preliminary understanding of the cognition of the Food Toxicology course in the Food Hygiene and Nutrition major in the TCM University. During the teaching process, we need to include a Chinese medicine background, and typical cases should be selected, based on the idea of "Homology of Medicine and Food" in traditional medicine.