Study Food Science and Technology in the United KingdomFood Science and Technology has developed into a profession in its own right, fully recognised by government, industry, educational bodies, and increasingly by an informed public and is now a popular qualification amongst students.
Food Science is the body of knowledge and understanding of the nature and composition of food materials and their behaviour under the various conditions to which they may be subjected. Food Technology is the application of food science to the practical treatment of food materials for conversion to safe and acceptable products.
Food is a biological material. The teaching of Food Science focuses on explaining the nature of food as a medium for chemical, biochemical and physical changes affecting functional properties. Moreover there is an important need for a full understanding of the metablic role of indigenous enzymes in for example, the development of flavour and texture during fruit ripening. meat tenderisation; maturation of cheeses and development of bread doughs. Other, more deleterious effects often result from microbial contamination. This can pose a major health risk and now, with transport over long distances, their origins can be more obscure. Each microorganism has an optimum water activity (aw) at which it will grow. Foods with a high aw like canned fruit, juices, ham and fish require preservatives with both bactericidal and fungicidal properties. In other products like pasta, and powdered foods (a, O. 5 to 0.2) there is little microbial proliferation but frequently non-enzymic browning in the dry powdered products. In the United Kingdom approved preservatives, together with many others, include propionic acid to reduce mould growth in bread and for dried fruits, fruit Juices and white wine sulphur dioxide to reduce browning and bacterial growth. Food scientists need to have an in depth understanding of the types of micro-organisms associated with food in order to eventually control food spoilage. Emerging preservation techniques include predictive modelling of microbial growth.
In the United Kingdom there are two main educational routes: the B.Sc. scheme after leaving school and secondly the M.Sc. conversion course for pure science graduates, as well as the Ph.D. for food research Food Science and Technology is frequently taught as an integral subject a both B.Sc. and postgraduate levels. Admission to undergraduate courses requires A levels, international baccelauriat or similar level qualifications in sciences, particularly chemistry: specific requirements and level of attainment depend on the course chosen. For many postgraduate M.Sc. taught courses in the United Kingdom, the period of study is 12 months and also includes a training in research methods via a substantial research project. This benefits from the high level of research being carried out in the leading university departments. Students are given a choice of research topics relevant to the research activity and specialisation of the university department: frequently there are opportunities for involvement with industrial companies. The application of science to food materials is longstanding and increasingly multidisciplinary. For postgraduate entry, candidates include those with first degree qualifications in pure science subjects such as chemistry, biological sciences, biochemistry, and sometimes microbiology and genetics. In a number of distinguished, highly-rated university departments, the staff, who are experts in specific areas, apply their knowledge to food quality assessment and processing in a multidisciplinary environment.
The international food industry needs well qualified scientists who can apply their knowledge to maintain quality assurance in an increasingly sophisticated food processing industry. They are employed by manufacturers of food ingredients, large and small food processors for product development, for consultancy, and by research establishments. Developments in food processing have advanced rapidly with the introduction of new processes including microwave cooking, rapid freezing processes to maintain the quality of products and other technological advances such as ohmic heating and reverse osmosis for concentrating heat-sensitive liquids. Central to product development are both the beneficial and in some cases the deleterious effects of processing on food texture, flavour and colour of new products: the positive attributes are all an integral part of food acceptance by the consumer. For scientific assessment of these a full understanding of the composition of food materials and their structure at the molecular level is required. Hence the food scientist must acquire, through higher education, knowledge of the principles underlying industrial food manufacturing operations and the theoretical basis of the major food processing operations used on an industrial scale. Nutrition is an integral part of Food Science: indeed, the primary purpose of food is to supply nutrients. To take part in metabolism, nutrients must be digested and transported through the intestinal mucosa and the vascular system to the interior of cells. In the United Kingdom there is compulsory addition of micronutrients to bread flour, margarine and spreadable fats: research is revealing the need for addition of other nutrients like polyunsaturated fatty acids. The relationship between diet and health are interesting components of Food Science and Technology, which are increasingly exciting the interest of the manufacturer, the retailer and the consumer.
Many of the stimulating advances now being made in Food Science are arising from the direct application of the major discoveries, in the second half of this century, by Watson, Crick, Kendrew and Perutz, derived from the pioneering development of chromatography by Martin and Synge in Leeds in the late 1940's. Now biotechnology seeks its application by the agri-food industry to provide improved quality of products by giving them longer shelf-life and improved flavour and texture. Approval has already been given for sale of modified tomatoes, which can be left longer on the plant to enhance flavour and is the first of many similar advances that can be expected to provide the much needed improvement to the shelf life of plant foods. "Vegetarian" cheese can be manufactured from cloned rennin, Such developments may match the technological advances of the widely used modified atmosphere storage of fruits, e.g. for bananas and apples. This arose from the discovery of the function of the simple hydrocarbon, ethene, as a plant ripening hormone by Richard Gane at the Cambridge Low Temperature Research Station in 1927. However the control, especially for tropical products, of fruit ripening and senescence, and of storage and handling, is still a high priority worldwide. Future advances will include both the use in bread manufacture of genetically engineered high molecular weight wheat glutenins and cloned hemicellulases. The use of natural seed gums, plant exudate gums and proteins offer opportunities for modification of their functional properties via changes in structure at the molecular level through the use of debranching and cross linking enzymes.
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Procter Department of Food
Science
Tel: 44 (0)113 343 2958 | ||||||||||||||||||
