Everyone needs to eat, and as the planet’s population grows, how we accomplish that is only going to be more and more important. A career in Food Science Technology has you working on the solutions to this eternal issue, and it’s a job that’s always going in need. At Centennial College, we teach you the skills you need to help people eat, in our Food Science Technology program. The practical learning you get all leads up to a special capstone project, where you research and create an actual unique new food product, with a health or social benefit built in. These projects are presented at the end of the school year, at Centennial College’s Food Product Development Showcase . We spoke to two of the presenting students, Divjot Kaur and Suresh Kumar Subramaniyam, and their professor, Kayode Oduse, about their projects. But first, let’s have a look at why they (and you) want to get into Food Science Technology.
Why do you want a career in food science?
"Why food science?" Suresh says. "Throughout history, food has been a privilege. In the stone ages, people had to go hunting to find food. As we evolved, food became more easily accessible for everyone. But right now, the population is very high, and there's too many mouths to feed with the current supply of food that we have."
"We need to find a way to meet the demands of that growing population," Professor Kayode adds. "Food processing in particular comes to mind, because we can't continue to rely on the old ways of doing things. We need to find newer ways of processing food. And that is, in fact, why you see in most developing nations, food still remains one of the expensive things to purchase." In a Food Science Technology career, you’re helping to fix the problem by developing newer and safer food products.
"I’d already completed my bachelor's in food science and nutrition from India, from Punjab Agriculture University. And I had been working in research and development back home in Sri Lanka, with three years of research and development in the food industry." Divjot says, "so I already have theoretical knowledge on food and nutrition. The instinct to come abroad was one thing that intrigued me to go into the food science technology program, because I wanted to have practical exposure to how the theoretical things can apply in the practical world.”
How our Food Science Technology Program makes you ready for a career
In short, the Food Science Technology program gets you on your feet, working in the school’s labs and creating results before you even enter the career field.
"Throughout the whole program," Suresh says, "we’ve been involved in continuous laboratory practice and testing."
"We've already had some courses in which we had hands-on experience making and analyzing products," Divjot adds. "For the entire program - all four semesters, we were in the laboratory. All semesters were a mix of theory and practical work."
"In addition to that," Professor Kayode adds, "students had opportunities for experiential learning where they visited the industry during the course of the program, which enabled them to see and experience exactly what was going on in the food manufacturing plants, processing plants, research, and analytical laboratories. This is an extension of the learning process, because it gives them visuals which adequately complement what we teach."
The Food Product Development Showcase
This all culminated in showing off their capstone projects, at the Food Product Development Showcase, a special event open to the public at Centennial College.
"The event was a product showcase and presentation," Professor Kayode explains. "The showcase part is where students come in and display all the products they've developed. This is practically a semester-long project."
A critical part of the showcase is that students work on their presentation skills, rather than just show off the science, because presentation is an important part of working in the industry.
"It was an open event," Professor Kayode says. "So, everyone was there, asking them questions and interacting with them. That’s one of the skills that’s important for them, to have that confidence in making presentations. Yes, the new food they have developed is important, but we have a slogan in the field of Food Science: The consumer sees before they buy, the consumer sees before they eat. So, how the products are packaged and presented becomes very important."
What new product did these two Food Science Technology students develop?
"As the semester started, the first thing for us was to generate an idea," Divjot says about how their capstone projects got started. "There are a lot of products in the market, and we have to decide what product we think we can improve."
"Everybody likes chocolate, and they like protein bars," Divjot says about her group’s product. "There are a lot of protein bars, but they have ingredients like artificial sweeteners, refined sugar and flavor enhancers. So, we decided on making protein bars with dark chocolate that is 60 to 70 per cent cocoa powder, because we know that dark chocolate has a lot of health benefits."
"The tagline for our product was 'indulge guilt free,'" she adds. "Students were tasting our product and they wanted more! We were the first table to run out of stock. And we were more than happy for that."
"Our company was named Nom Nom Noveau, "which I got from my little nephew, because he always says 'nom nom' when he's eating something. And our tagline was 'food is life,' because we have to eat every day and to keep up our daily needs. Our product was a sauce, almost like a condiment. We were looking at roasted cauliflower dip, because as much as people know it’s good for health, they don't know the exact flavor." Suresh says about his group’s project.
"We went through a sensory evaluation just like every company does," Suresh says. "The feedback we got was that the consumers are used to a specific taste from the products they always go for, like tomato sauce, garlic sauce, or hot barbecue sauce. So, when they are introduced to a new product, which is a completely different sauce that they have never tasted before, they will feel repelled. But then when they know that a product is actually nutritious, they actually welcome it." As for how the day went, there was strength in numbers, as well as diversity.
"Our section mates were so kind to us," Divjot says. "If a person did not have a water bottle, napkins, or a tablecloth, someone would donate them. We helped each other. It was a showcase for individual and group work, but we were united, so that everyone was applauded. And that’s the thing, Centennial College is unity in diversity. We have so many people, we have so many diverse cultures, we could taste African, Italian and Indian food, there were so many different tastes on a single floor."
What they’ll take with them into their career in food science.
"I liked the process of developing a food product," Divjot continues. "And if I go into a career in food product development, I’ll know how to research, I’ll know how to do a market survey, I’ll know how to analyze what kind of market is around me, or where I have to launch my product if I have to make it."
"For me," Suresh says, "the biggest takeaway from the project was how well you can manage your time, and how you can interpret and communicate among your groupmates, because when you go into the industry there will be people who will think in a different way, and not everyone will want to work in a way that you want them to work. So, it's about the ability to interpret what you're trying to say, and how to manage any kind of setback that could happen during your project."
"Food science is a huge field," he says about the career. "And of course, if you're interested in making food, and if you are a person who believes food is medicine, this is the field for you. The food industry is never going to go out of business, because everyone has to eat, so the food has to be there for the consumers. And that is the beauty of it."
"At the end of the day," Suresh says, "we're all going into the food industry with the skills that we’ve developed, including soft skills that’ll come in handy, like how we meet the demands of our customers and the consumers of our product. And the showcase was really an eye-opening event for all the students, especially in the food industry, because this is literally their first step into the industry."
"If you come to Centennial College," Divjot says, "We have great professors, and we have multiculturalism and diversity here, so you're not going to feel alone. We have so many things. We have gyms, we have counsellors, and we have a career support system. You are in good hands, you're in the right hands."
By: Anthony Geremia