Food Science

The Food Science major is offered through the School of Food Systems in the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources. It is designed to prepare students for a career in the food industry, the “world’s largest industry,” which is responsible for feeding the world. Food Science is an academic program with a mission to provide students with the skills necessary to be successful in a career that provides people with safe, nutrition and high quality foods and lifelong learning through research, teaching and outreach activities.  The program is unique and is structured to develop an understanding of the nature, properties, and characteristics of foods through foundation courses in biochemistry, chemistry, microbiology, physics and other sciences. Food science courses are built on this foundation and provide in-depth focus on these core areas as they relate to foods. Applications include the study of food safety, engineering, processing, preservation, sanitation, nutrition, storage, and marketing of foods. The analysis and microbiological and biochemical characterization of food products are also studied. Additional elective courses in economics and business administration are available to students intending to enter a management career. The program is approved by the national food science organization, the Institute of Food Technologists.