Food Science and Technology

Students majoring in Food Science spend the first two years of study developing the scientific and general background necessary for upper division courses. The science courses include chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics. General background is also provided by course offerings in the social science/humanities area and by a course in Introductory Food Science. At the upper division level, students take courses in nutrition, food microbiology, food chemistry, food analysis, food commodities, food processing, and food engineering. At some institutions specialties such as beer brewing are offered in the junior and senior years of study.

Upon transfer and completion of the Bachelor’s Degree, a Food Science graduate will be prepared to enter the food industry and/or for post-graduate studies leading to careers in research. Food science industry and research are directed towards topics such as: improving the nutritional value of food, understanding the interactions of food components essential to safety and physical properties, improving packaging with attention to environmental concerns, and improving methods of problem detection. Food Scientists are also focused on maximizing the utilization of agricultural resources.

Enrollment and Completer Projections –

a.    I will use our Nutrition AS Degree as a method of estimating our potential food science degree enrollment and completion rates.  Our Nutrition Degree currently has 156declared majors.  We awarded 143Associate’s Degrees in Nutrition in 2019-2020, 139 in 2020-2021 and 102 in2021-2022.  I would anticipate once this degree is established it will graduate a similar number of declared major and degree completion rates for students. 

b.    UC Davis graduates approximately 80 students per year from the Food Science Bachelor’s Degree program. https://icc.ucdavis.edu/data/major?mc=190  As of 10/1/2022, UCD has 215 undergraduates enrolled in their Food Science program (173 are high school admits; 42transfers).

c.     The department of Food Science and Nutrition (FSN) at San Luis Obispo has a total of 157 Food Science students in Fall 2022 (including 59first time freshmen food science students and 2 transfer students). This illustrates the need for Cal Poly to collaborate with us in getting more transfer students in their program.

d.    Very few community colleges offer food science degrees so the number of Food Science students may be higher than we are guessing once we have an established program, especially if we allow students to complete the degree online or mostly online.  

e.    I also feel obligated to mention that people who earn a BS Degree in Food Science have many more possible avenues to pursue compared to nutrition.  Food is “big business” in the USA and I’m learning that there are many food-related pathways in both industry and government.   

Upon completion of this program, the student will be able to:

• understand the chemistry underlying the properties and reactions of various food components.
• identify the important pathogens and spoilage microorganisms in foods and the conditions under which they will grow.
• explain the operations required to produce a food product.
• apply and incorporate the principles of food science in practical, real-world situations and problems.

Career Opportunities: A degree in the Food Science area can be the launch pad to many career options. You can start as a technician, go on to supervisor, and pursue research (which may require a graduate degree). Some graduates have also gone on to obtain an MBA. On the other hand, you could follow a career path into technical sales, marketing, distribution, plant supervision, product development. You might even form your own company.

Associate in Science Degree

The Food Science and Technology Associate in Science (A.S.) degree may be obtained by completion of 60 transferable, semester units with a minimum 2.0 GPA, including (a) the major or area of emphasis described in the Required Program, and (b) either the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or the California State University General Education-Breadth Requirements.

ProposedSequence: 

Year 1, Fall = _13__ units 

Year 1, Spring = __10__ units

Year 1, Summer = __5__ units

Year 2, Fall = __11__ units

Year 2, Spring = _13___ units

Year 2, Summer = __0__units

TOTAL UNITS: __52__ units