Need for Food Technology Discipline
Food science & Technology is the applied science devoted to the study of food, ingredients and related substances having a greater relation to Nutrition. In this discipline the knowledge of engineering, biological sciences, and physical sciences are used to study the nature of foods, the causes of deterioration, the principles underlying food processing, and the improvement of foods for the consuming public. The textbook definition of this discipline imply "the application of basic sciences and engineering to study the physical, chemical, and biochemical nature of foods and the principles of food processing".
New food safety issues emerges all over the world for many reasons and affecting the health of food consumers. Sometimes, a microorganism evolves to become pathogenic, or a pathogen evolves to become more virulent. Other times, the change is linked to the people at risk for food borne illness. These phenomenon are very common in every part of the world whether its a advanced country or underdeveloped country. The situation of these incidences are so complex that it is impossible to describe all the reasons a food safety issue could emerge. All of these demands the knowledge and education of Food science and technology. The more the graduates in this discipline the more safe food will be available to the consumers. Apart from food safety issues, this disciplines is important to prepare graduates that are well equipped with knowledge of Nutrition, Food engineering, Food chemistry, food microbiology, Food processing, Food preservation, new product development and lot more.
There is a high and growing demand for graduates of food science and technology in a range of professional areas including food quality assurance, research and development of new products and new processing technologies, microbiology, technical consulting, and sales and marketing. Potential employers include: food suppliers and manufacturers, beverage manufacturers, supermarket chains, hospitals, airlines, wine companies, teaching institutions, commonwealth and state research laboratories.
Graduates work as food chemists, research specialists, product developers, food microbiologists, quality control technologists process engineers, marketing specialists, teachers. They may be found in agricultural research, hospitals and health agencies, analytical laboratories, food suppliers and manufacturers of staple or pre-prepared foods, marketing and sales, supermarket chains, airlines and wine companies. Employment prospects are high, both in European countries, USA, Canada, Australia, gulf countries and some other overseas regions.
To cater the needs of food technology graduates for industry, research institutes, academia, NGO`s, food authorities and other Governmental functionaries, several institutes, universities and colleges are offering degrees in Food science, Food Technology, Nutrition and other related disciplines. In Pakistan at least ten Public sector universities are offering programs in Food science and Technology. The leading universities in these disciplines in Pakistan are: PMAS-Arid Agriculture University and University of Agriculture Faisalabad.
