Profile:
Food technologist
Functions:
Graduates in Food Science and Technology carry out management, planning, control, coordination and training activities in the production and formulation, conservation, distribution and administration of food products. They are able to independently plan and develop innovative solutions in the food industry as well as in the private practice. Their foremost objective is the management of professional functions aiming at improving food products with a view to sustainability and waste reduction in industrial activities, as well as to the improvement of the overall quality of small and medium companies.
Skills:
The broad knowledge spectrum enables these professionals to cover all the functions useful in the food industry and in related production activities such as:
- the coordination and responsibility of processes related to food processing and marketing, to the selection of raw material suppliers, additives, adjuvants, packaging materials and equipment;
- the study, design and optimization of food processing processes: from modelling to pilot tests and subsequent scaling-up, evaluating the shelf-life of final products;
- the integrated quality management in the production chain, aimed at achieving objectives of safety and product quality, social responsibility and environmental protection;
- the ability to develop innovative analytical protocols for safety control, for the identification of emerging risks and for the evaluation of food production quality requirements;
- the expertise and arbitration functions with respect to the above mentioned issues;
- market research, consumer surveys and benchmarking in relation to food production
Professional opportunities:
The professional activity of graduates in Food Science and Technology can be carried out in the food industry and in all companies producing, processing and marketing food products, in large-scale retail trade, in catering, in public and private bodies carrying out research, planning, analysis, control, certification, information and communication activities as well as in those that carry out scientific investigations for the protection and enhancement of food production, in training institutions and as freelance professionals.