WHAT IS FOOD SCIENCE?
The Million Dollar Question! I refer to it as the science of food. Food science is essentially the science applied to food.
Welcome, and thank you for visiting my blog. This post is dedicated to food and the science of food that not only keeps us safe and healthy but ensures convenience, variation, and tasty food on our market shelves.
Food Science is the study of various chemical and physical properties of food and how food components respond to treatments of processing, preservation, storage, etc. It is a multidisciplinary study encompassing mainly chemistry, microbiology, engineering, product development, law/legislation, and processing.
Have you ever wondered how popular food brands such as Simba chips or Doritos came about? why Windhoek draught tastes different from Oshikundu but both give you the same happiness? or how raw cereals are transformed into your favorite Pasta Polana spaghetti? Ask a Food Scientist.
There are five fields within food science for those seeking to specialize or focus on. It is my goal with this blog to educate and inform anyone interested in learning more about the food they eat.
Food Chemistry: This field is concerned with the structure of raw materials used in food processing, storage, and preservation. The smooth texture of ice cream, the shelf-life of Oshikandela, smell, and flavor of sunflower oil are affected by the chemistry.
Product development and sensory sciences: Sensory science refers to how people perceive different tastes, flavors, appearances, and food textures. This is by far my favorite field. Using sensory sciences, we as food scientists can develop new food products and flavors that are more nutritious, convenient, healthier, organic, or an extension of an existing product line such as the new Doritos Masala flavored chips.
Nutrition: A critical outcome of food processing is the production of safe and convenient food while maintaining the food’s nutritional content and also making it tasty. This might involve fortifying foods with nutrients such as vitamins or minerals. Focusing on nutrition is especially important, in my opinion, for those seeking to become dieticians or work in nutrition.
Microbiology: This field studies how microorganisms like bacteria, yeast, and mold interact with food. Specialization in food safety to understand how to eliminate bad bacteria and biological hazards from foods may require lots of microbiology work. The brewing industry and food fermentation are some industries working with the microbiology of food.
Engineering and Processing: This field studies the transformation of raw ingredients into safe, nutritious food while maintaining flavor, color, and shelf life. It also involves food packaging and energy conservation during processing.
The fields of food science and disciplines will be covered in detail in different articles so just keep a lookout for those. If food science is a topic of interest to you I hope this blog provides you with relevant information and that you will join to learn more.
Thank you for reading!
Sources:
https://www.coursera.org/articles/food-science
https://nytimes.com