Review of Food Science and Technology in China

End-of-Year Review by the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST)

J Chen, W Chen and J Chen

Food is the first necessity of human beings, and the food industry is an important sector of the Chinese national economy. The fast growth and continuous development of the food industry has been essential to the nation’s economic, social, cultural, and technological development for a very long time, but at no time has its role been as critical as it is now. As a discipline, food science and technology is concerned with all technical aspects of food, including theoretical research, technology and equipment. It provides solid grounds and technical support for the innovation of knowledge and development of the food industry, and plays key roles in the education and training of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students with defined skills in the field of food science and technology.

Food science and technology is a highly interdisciplinary applied science, and incorporates concepts from many different fields including agriculture, microbiology, chemical engineering, biochemistry, and many others. Naturally it also shows great influence to many fields including agriculture, engineering, science, medicine and the humanities and social science. During its growth, food science and technology has been focusing on theoretical research, innovation in technology and merging with other disciplines. During 2007 and 2008 we have witnessed continuous and solid development and a series of breakthroughs in many aspects of food science and technology.

China has set the goal to provide a world-class education system for students majoring in food science and technology, and has established a multiple-level education system including higher education, postgraduate education and tertiary vocational education. Up to 2008 there has been over 180 institutions and universities with food science and engineering programs nationwide, which are located in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. Among these universities the doctoral programs of 13 universities have been lobalizat as key disciplines in food science and engineering by the Ministry of Education, and 32 universities have key master programs. In 2007 and 2008 the Ministry of Education approved 14 national courses of excellence in food science with state-of-the-art facilities including textbooks, references and online resources. The successful education system in food science and engineering provides students with an excellent preparation for a career in the food and allied industries, local, state and federal government agencies, and educational and research institutions. Job placement in food science and engineering is above 80% in the past two years in China. Chinese faculty and staff in food science and engineering have thrived because of the unparalleled combination of quality and breadth; the high standards; the open, collaborative, and innovative culture in the field. Currently there are more than 500 full-time professors, over 100 guest lecturers and adjunct professors active in the field of food science and engineering nationwide.

With the aims to serve socio-economic growth, frontier technology research has been conducted in the past 2 years. The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in China has funded increasing numbers of National Basic Research Programs, National High-tech R&D Programs (“863” Program) and Science and Technology (S&T) Enabling Programs related to food \science and engineering during the 11th Five-year Plan, with the focus on agricultural processing, functional food, lobalization of the dairy industry, food safety and many others. To meet the global challenges of new technology revolution and competition, MOST has compiled and implemented nine Science and Technology Enabling Programs in Food Science with 108 projects and more than RMB 600 million investment. To boost innovation capacity in the high-technology sectors and to achieve breakthroughs in key technical fields that concern the national economic lifeline and national security, MOST has implemented over RMB 700 million in key projects on advanced agricultural technology, among which over RMB 100 million was granted to food-related projects. Tremendous developments in key high-technology fields of food science and technology have been accomplished, particularly in food processing, functional foods and food safety. Innovation and application of cutting-edge high-technologies in the field of food science and engineering such as biotechnology and nanotechnology have tremendously assisted the lobalization process of the food industry in China. China has been strengthening its cooperation and academic exchange with universities and institutions around the world in the fields of food science and technology, which has enhanced the international competitiveness and risk resistance of China’s food industry so as to allow more positive involvement in the economic lobalization process and safeguarding our economic interests and security. In 2007 and 2008, China has held more than 40 national and over 10 international conferences and forums in food science and technology. China has established joint research centers with over 10 international universities and institutions from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Japan and Korea, and exchange of scholars and students and cooperation in scientific projects have greatly promoted the advancement in the field of food science and technology.

With the advances in modern technology, particularly in the basic disciplines such as agriculture, biology, medicine, mathematics and engineering, research areas such as basic theory of food processing, food nutrition and human health, food safety and control, and food biotechnology have drawn more and more attention and become essential to the development of modern food science and technology. The challenges we are facing nowadays such as global environmental change, food safety and continuous development bring great opportunities for innovation and development of food science and technology, and through the joint efforts of Chinese food scientists and the food industry we are thriving to accelerate national socio-economic development and enable China to catch up with international pioneers in the field of food science and technology.

Chen Jian, Chen Wei and Chen Jie are with the State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China (www.jiangnan.edu.cn).

The Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST) is at Room 201 Zhongke Mansion, No.75 Deng Shikou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, PR China Postcode: 100006; E-mail: cifst.china@gmail.com