Major in Food Science
With a Food Science degree, you can influence food choices and possibilities! The average supermarket carries more than 20,000 items, most of which were developed into safe, affordable, and tasty products by food scientists. Imagine walking down the grocery store aisle and knowing YOU had an important role in bringing a product from the farm to your fork!
What is Food Science?
Food Science applies fundamental scientific principles to the research, development, manufacture, packaging, storage, and marketing of food products. Have you ever wondered:
- Why you cry when you chop an onion?
- How Gatorade became the drink of athletes?
- What makes Jell-O wiggly?
- How a kernel of corn becomes a corn flake?
- Why the bacteria in yogurt are good for you?
You will learn the answers to these questions when you become a Food Science major at Cal Poly. Our applied, laboratory-based courses are taught in a food processing pilot plant and are designed to educate you about functional components of foods, food safety, sensory evaluation, quality assurance, new product development, food chemistry, food processing and engineering, and much more.
The Food Science major offers two concentrations – the Basic Food Science Concentration, approved by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and the Applied Food Technology Concentration.
Can you picture yourself in a white lab coat in a food laboratory?
Try the Basic Food Science Concentration, which prepares students for exciting careers in scientific environments. IFT, the food science professional organization, recognizes Cal Poly's program for its comprehensive coursework, including advanced math and preparatory laboratory sciences. Graduates in the Basic Food Science Concentration obtain high-level jobs in food development environments as well as in managerial positions throughout the food industry.
Would you like to be part of creating, producing, and packaging a new snack food or sports drink?
Try the Applied Food Technology Concentration, which prepares graduates to perform exciting and innovative food-related jobs including those in small, family-run businesses or in enterprises with commercial product development.
In either concentration, our Cal Poly graduates work in creative and important jobs. You will too!