Specialisation in Functional Food

Mayonnaise that lowers your cholesterol level and custard that helps you lose weight: food that is both tasty and healthy. Functional Food is nutrition that promotes good health. It will often take a lot of research before the health-promoting effects of this food have been proven. The Functional Food specialisation teaches you all about food processes (chemical and otherwise), how to achieve a specific functionality in food and how to research this. Are you interested in technology and would you like to help people develop a healthier lifestyle? The Functional Food specialisation may be just the thing for you. 

The Functional Food specialisation is part of the three or four-year Process & Food Technology study programme at university of applied sciences ( hbo) level. The study programme and specialisation were set up in collaboration with leading companies such as Unilever, DSM, Sara Lee and Shell, to make sure your studies link up with practice perfectly. You’ll be off to a flying start right after graduation!

For whom

You have an affinity with technology, but are also concerned with social issues. Additionally, you are practical and inquisitive. This specialisation will train you as a process engineer with a focus on nutrition and consumers. The specific expertise you acquire here will give you a great head start.

Structure and content

The Functional Food specialisation covers three consecutive terms and starts in the last term of the third year or, if you are taking an accelerated study programme, the last term of the second year. Every term covers a specific topic. You will be attending lectures and tutorials, working in project groups and carrying out assignments. An important component of every term is the corporate project. This project could have you working with Unilever to improve the industrial production of ice cream, for instance. Each specialisation term awards 15 credits: 4 for the specialisation courses, 6 for the corporate project and 5 for the compulsory courses. This equals a course load of 40 hours a week. You will learn how to analyse and design chemical food processes, to examine food, how to market new products and much more.

Ingredients, process technology and product properties topics

Ingredients, the building blocks of food, are the key topic of discussion in the first term of the specialisation. You will be conducting research into which functional ingredients or tools are suitable for functional food. A good example of this would be to use the thickening agent used in custard as a substitute for fat, which would allow people to enjoy custard without any of the drawbacks. Another idea would be to substitute animal proteins with vegetable proteins with the same functionality. The second term covers the process technology specific to functional foods: how do you make specific types of food and which technologies (e.g. cooling or heating) are suitable for functional food? You will learn everything about physiology and product properties during the final term. What happens to a particular ingredient in the gastrointestinal tract and how does it promote good health? Other topics for discussion are marketing, legislation and consumer behaviour. All of these are essential to process and product development. As a result, you will not only understand process technology, but also how it ties in with food and how it affects the body.

After the specialisation

There is a demand on the labour market for process technicians with a background in food technology. People like you! You will know everything about technology, the range of available products, marketing or specific legislation, making you indispensible to companies in the food industry, like Royal FrieslandCampina or Sara Lee. After you have completed the programme you will be working at a factory or laboratory, where you will be improving production processes for food. You may also be employed as a product developer or marketing manager. The Functional Food specialisation will help you launch a career in the food industry, where you will be helping people eat in a healthier way.

Would you like to continue your studies? This is possible. Wageningen University offers a Master’s programme in Food Technology, for instance. Ask your study adviser about the available options.