Food science and technology; what they are and where we need them

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. I have been away for a while due to some circumstances but I am very happy to be back on the keyboard once again. I really missed doing this.

Today, I would like to talk about a particular field of interest that has impact on the lives of everyone on earth (even in space). The field of food science and technology. this field is concerned with one resource that we humans (I especially) cannot live without – food! I would be discussing the areas at which the impact of food technologies are felt and the kind of roles they play in ensuring that you and I get the best type of food for our pleasure. Please stay tuned.

What is food science?

Food science is the study of the composition of food, its nature and behavior in an environment. Generally speaking, the understanding of the components of a food implies full knowledge of both the nutritional, proximate and elemental composition of the food. It further enables one to know the level of interaction among these components.

Food is made mainly of protein, carbohydrates, minerals, fats, vitamins, fibers and water. These are organic compounds with several levels of chemical bonding and arrangements which makes one food different from the other. The composition of a food further gives information on whether a food is high in protein or carbohydrate or fat and oils. It also includes an insight into the quality of amino acid profile of the food or the nature of the carbohydrate or types of fatty acid in the food.

For example, fresh meat contains about 19-23% protein, 1-2% glycogen, 3-8% fat, 2-5% minerals, 1-3% vitamins and 73-75% moisture while soya beans contains 40% protein, 30% fat, 20% carbohydrate. Although the proportion of protein in meat is lower than that of soya beans, meat protein is of better quality than that of soya beans because meat has all the essential amino acids in abundance while soya beans is deficient of some.

The science of food further entails full knowledge of the nature of food i.e. whether the food is solid, liquid or gaseous, whether it is in the dry state, liquid state, succulent, moist or powdery. It also implies the type of food in terms of source i.e. fruit or vegetables, cereals or legumes, fresh foods, novel foods, engineered foods or microbial-sourced foods

The behavior of foods include knowing the level of interaction, condition or reaction of the food in a storage environment, its reaction during processing, preservation, handling and even during consumption, digestion, assimilation and utilization in the body. Because different foods behave differently under the listed environmental conditions, the science of food behavior becomes very imperative.

Therefore, a food scientist has a comprehensive knowledge of the consumption, nature and behavior of food and must have adequate empirical explanation for any change or deviation in the characteristic of any food. The science of food is the science of life.

Image source pixabay under cc0 license

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How about food technology?

Food technology is the comprehensive knowledge of the application of the science of food, the principles of engineering, physics, chemistry and biology in the orderly transformation or conservation of food commodities into a more value added, useful, shelf-stable, wholesome and acceptable semi-finished or finished edible products. In other words, food technology is the knowledge of the application or the procedure of obtaining an acceptable wholesome food that has undergone a positive processing operation.
The application of this knowledge ensures that food is available all the time all year round. It also creates a variety in foods, improves nutritional capacity of foods, adds appeal, improves stability of the food and enhances acceptability of the food.

In economic terms, a food technologist is one who adds value to a natural food commodity and makes it available all year round at reasonable prices while maintaining the integrity and wholesomeness of the food.

Food technology, therefore involves the act of handling, processing, preserving, storing, controlling, engineering/re-engineering of foods, packaging and presenting food in forms that make it acceptable all year round. Generally, the business of food is the business of the food scientist and technologist. The food scientist and technologist obtains the food commodity in its natural fresh state from the agriculturist (farmer) and transform it into wholesome and acceptable form and presents it to the caterer (kitchen) for preparation as food while also monitoring what happens to the food in the ultimate consumer (nourishment).

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Where are the food scientists and technologists needed?

Food science and technology, being an applied field, is essential in various fields of human endeavor. Generally, the scope of food science and technology includes all relevant industries, fields and concerns where the services of the food scientist and technologist are needed. These fields are numerous and include the following;

• Food processing and preservation industries
  These are the industries that directly convert or transform food raw materials into wholesome, shelf stable and acceptable finished or semi-finished products. They are essentially the core practitioners of food technology and include such industries like food drink producing companies like those who produce beverages, carbonated drinks, baby foods, powdered foods, flour, bread, biscuits, sweets and the likes.
  
  

• Food storage and post-harvest control industries
  These ones deal with the preservation of fresh unprocessed food commodities under condition s that extend their shelf life for a long time. The scope covers knowledge of temperature control in cold storage systems, controlled atmosphere storage systems. It also entails humidity, pressure and moisture control in dried product storage systems like silos, rhombus, cribs and barns.

The strategic grain reserve silos of the Federal and State governments on Nigeria are typical examples while the traditional silos and barns are typical examples.
Also, cold storage systems like cold stores, cold rooms, freezer systems used for storing fish, meat or poultry are also included.

• Research and product development industries
  The R and D industries are the research institutions that are set up by the government agencies or multinational corporations or as a division of some other food industries. Their duties include carrying out scientific research with a view to developing new food products, upgrading processing procedures or preservation procedures or improving existing products in such a way that food products are obtained at optimum qualities. The research endeavor could also center on solving specific problems generated in the course of producing food products. The daily improvements in the quality of food products are due to the efforts of this industry

The research industries could include multi-disciplinary research institutes dealing with development and improvement of agricultural produce in terms of yield, resistance to disease and early maturing species. They also deal with the development of these raw food materials into new food products, development of processing methods and equipment, storage and preservation equipment and development of new product specific to their areas of research.

• Food engineering design and construction industries
  These ones specialize in the design, construction, fabrication and improvement of food processing equipment, food handling equipment and storage equipment. They also design equipment for process modification and improvement. The experts in this field are mostly food engineers, agricultural engineers and mechanical engineers.
  
  

• Biotechnology industries
  Food science and technology also finds relevance in the field of biotechnology. This field involves the development of genetically modified foods, genetic engineering, enzyme modification technology, microbial cell modification and development, development of single cell proteins and microbial foods. This is also an interdisciplinary field involving agriculturists, food technologists, botanists and genetic engineers. The continuous production of high yielding genetically modified food commodities with minimal toxicity levels and maximal wholesomeness and acceptability are hinged on the success of the biotechnology industries.

• Food quality control, assurance hygiene and sanitation industries.
  These industries are usually incorporated in the process and preservation industries. Their role as an industry is to ensure the production of food of the right quality standard. They also ensure that these qualities are always maintained.

The production of food under the most hygienic and sanitary status is also necessary for a food to be wholesome. A good knowledge of food microbiology, food plant sanitation and hygiene, food quality control and assurance and the practice of hazard analysis and critical control point operations guarantee the success of this aspect of food technology

• Food health, nutrition and hospitality industry
  This is a field that enables one to know what happens in the food as it is being prepared ion the kitchen, its service conditions, handling operations before it gets to the final consumer. The functionality of the food in the consumers’ body system is also within the preview of the food technologists.

The food scientists and technologists in this field seek to know the nutritional quality of the food, the dietary contributions of the food in the consumer and the nourishment capacity of the food when consumed. This therefore gives the food technologist the supervisory role over the hotel and catering practitioners, the nutritionist and the dietician in order to ensure that the consumed food serves its anticipated functions.

• Food marketing and distribution industries
  For a food to be shelf-able, serve its usefulness and maintain its integrity as desired by the processor or manufacturer, the food must be distributed and marketed under the appropriate environmental conditions. The food scientist and technologist who predicts the expiry dates of the manufactured food pre-supposes that the food should be marketed under certain temperature, humidity, moisture and sanitary conditions.
  
  

• Food laws, regulation and enforcement industry
  Foods being a potentially hazardous material if not properly manufactured, stored or preserved, handled, marketed or distributed, can be an agent of death to the consumer. Therefore, the international community under the world health organization has spelt out international standards for food procurement, handling, processing, storage, distribution and marketing. These practices are documented as international standards and stipulate conditions for operating a good HACCP system; Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) operations; Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) for food systems; Good Quality Management Program (QMP) to ensure that foods produced all over the world meet international standard specifications.

World bodies like the World Industrial Standard Organization (ISO), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the World Health Organization (WHO) have been set up to regulate these international standards.

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As you can now see, every step of the way from when the food crop is planted till the point it hits the table of the consumer (you), the food scientist and technologist are always involved. It is quite a pity that we somehow do not feel their impact directly and all the praises go to the producers of the food products only.

CONCLUSION
The role of food scientists and technologists in our daily lives is great and affect the lives of everyone directly or indirectly.
Generally, the scope of food science and technology is very wide, all-encompassing and very challenging. It is the pivot on which human lives revolve. After all, food is the first necessity of life.
On the overall, the role of the food scientist and technologist is to ensure the adequate supply and availability of wholesome, good quality, safe and acceptable food all year round. When next you are crunching on that chips you love or drinking your favorite beverage, remember that the food scientist and technologist have worked tirelessly to ensure that you get the best quality of them all.

REFERENCES
Food science
food science knowlege
food technology