book of food science and technology

Geoffrey Campbell-Platt Food science and technology is the understanding andapplicationofsciencetosatisfytheneedsofsoci- ety for sustainable food quality, safety and security. At several universities worldwide, degree pro- grammes in food science and technology have been developed in the past half-century. This followed the lead of the University of Strathclyde (then the Royal CollegeofScienceandTechnology)inGlasgow,Scot- land, under the leadership of the first Professor of Food Science, who also became President of the In- ternational Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST), the late John Hawthorn. The aim of these courses has been to provide food science and technology graduates with the ability, throughmultidisciplinarystudies,tounderstandand integrate the scientific disciplines relevant to food. They would then be able to extend their knowledge and understanding of food through a scientific ap- proach,andtobeabletoapplyandcommunicatethat knowledgetomeettheneedsofsociety,industryand the consumer for sustainable food quality, safety and security of supply. 1.1 Food science and technology course elements Students studying food science and technology in higher education need to have undertaken courses in the basic scientific disciplines of chemistry, bi- ology, mathematics, statistics and physics. These are developed in food science and technology de- gree programmes through course elements in Food Chemistry, Food Analysis, Food Biochemistry, Food Biotechnology, Food Microbiology, Numerical Proce- dures and Food Physics. These are all covered by chapters in this book, followed by chapters cover- ing Food Processing, Food Engineering and Packag- ing. Further courses are required in Nutrition, Sen- sory Evaluation, Statistical Techniques, and Quality Assurance and Legislation. Regulatory Toxicology and Food Safety is addressed, as is Food Business Management.OthercourseelementsinFoodMarket- ing and Product Development are included, together with chapters on Information Technology, and Com- munication and Transferable Skills. Food science and technology are science-based courses, requiring a good grounding in science and theuseoflaboratoryandpilot-plantfacilities,torein- force the theoretical knowledge acquired. As well as acquiring practical laboratory and observation skills, laboratory experiments need to be written up, devel- oping important reporting and interpretation skills. Universities therefore require up-to-date facilities for chemical, microbiological laboratory exercises, and processing pilot-plant facilities for teaching the prin- ciples of unit processing and engineering operations, as well as sufficient well-qualified staff to teach the range of disciplines covered in this book. 1.2 Evolution of the book The book has evolved from a working group of the Committee of University Professors of Food Science and Technology (CUPFST), United Kingdom, who 2 Food Science and Technology sought to agree a framework of common course el- ements for the various food science and technology coursesestablishedintheUK.Neweruniversitiesad- vised that each course element should be based on outcomes, which should be achieved on successful completion, and it is these outcome headings that have largely been used as subject headings in each chapter of this book. This approach is popular inter- nationally and is used by professional institutes such astheInstituteofFoodScienceandTechnology(IFST) in the UK, and the book has evolved in consulta- tion with the recommended Education Standards for Food Science of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in the USA. The IFT recognises food science as the discipline in which engineering, biological and physical sciences are used to study the nature of foods, the causes of deterioration,theprinciplesunderlyingfoodprocess- ing,andtheimprovementoffoodsfortheconsuming public. Food technology is recognised as the appli- cation of food science to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, distribution and use of safe, nutritious and wholesome food. In short, it could be said that the food scientist analyses and takes apart food materials, whilst the food technologist puts all that knowledge into use in producing safe, desired food products. In practice, as recognised throughout the world, the terms are often used interchangeably, and practising food scientists and technologists have to both understand the nature of food materials and produce safe, nutritious food products. It is understood, and desirable, that the various food science and technology courses offered will vary, reflecting particular research interests and ex- pertise, in different institutions, and students will want to develop their own interests through spe- cific module choices or individual research projects. However, the purpose of establishing the core com- petencies, reflected in the chapters of this book, is to recognise what a food science or food technology graduate can be expected to achieve as a minimum, so that employers and regulators know what to ex- pect of a qualified graduate, who could then expect, after suitable relevant experience, to become a mem- ber of a professional body, such as IFT or IFST, or a Chartered Scientist. 1.3 Food safety assurance In our increasingly interdependent globalised world, food safety is an implied term in the ‘food purchas- ing or food service’ consumer contract, which often appears to be addressed publicly only when some- thing goes wrong. In fact, food control agencies and food retailers require processors and manufactur- ers to apply Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) to all their processes. This, combined with goodpractices,suchasGoodManufacturingPractice (GMP), and traceability, build quality and safety as- suranceintothefoodchain,whichisinherentlybetter with the very large number of food items produced and eaten frequently, and when individual item or destructive testing can only give a limited picture of the total production. Both HACCP and GMP require good teamwork by all involved in food processing, and it is the multidisciplinary-trained food scientist ortechnologistwhousuallyiscalledupontoleadand guide these operations. In our modern world where food ethics are to the fore, in terms of sustainable production practices, care of our environment, fair-trade, packaging re- cycling and climate-change concerns, food scientists andtechnologistswillhaveanincreasingroletoplay, inkeepingabreastoftheseissuesandthesciencethat can be applied to help address them. Food scientists, to be successful, already need good interpersonal, communication and presentation skills, which may be learned through example, mentoring and prac- tice in as many different situations as possible; in the future, these skills promise to be in even greater demand, as scientists engage with increasingly de- manding members of the public. 1.4 The International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) IUFoST is the international body representing some 65 member countries and some 200,000 food scien- tists and technologists worldwide. IUFoST organises World Congresses of Food Science and Technology in different locations around the world, normally ev- ery 2 years, at which the latest research and ideas are shared, and the opportunity is provided for young food scientists to present papers and posters and to interact with established world experts. Higher ed- ucation in food science and technology has been of great interest for several years, with many devel- oping countries looking for guidance in establish- ing courses in the subject, or to align them more closelywithothers,tohelpgraduatesmovemoresuc- cessfully between countries and regions. IUFoST is Introduction 3 also helping the development of Distance Education, where people are in employment and not able to attend normal university courses. IUFoST therefore sees the publication of this book as an important part of its contribution to helping internationally in shar- ing knowledge and good practice. IUFoST has also established the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST), to which eminent food scientists can be elected by peerreview,andaredesignatedasFellowsofIAFoST. The Fellows have acted as lead authors and advis- ers in the increasing range of authoritative Scientific Information Bulletins published by IUFoST, through itsScientificCouncil,whichhelpsummarisekeyfood issues to a wider audience. 1.5 The book In writing this book, we have been honoured to have the 20 chapters written by 30 eminent authors, from 10 different countries. All authors are experts in their respective fields, and together represent 15 of the world’sleadinguniversitiesinfoodscienceandtech- nology, as well as four leading international organ- isations. We are particularly honoured that several of the authors are distinguished Fellows of IAFoST, so helping directly to inspire younger potential food scientists and technologists through this textbook for students. It is therefore hoped that this book is adopted widely, providing tutors and students with the ba- sic content of the core components of food science and technology degrees, while providing guidance through references to further knowledge and for more advanced study. If this work provides the op- portunity to help students worldwide in sharing a common ideal while developing their own interests and expertise, the original aim of Professor John Hawthorn in developing this vital subject, so essen- tial for all of us, from Scotland to a worldwide disci- pline, will have been achieved. Supplementary material is available at the link below plz click