09/10/2026
In this , we take a look at the course that combines food chemistry, food physics, food microbiology and food process engineering to study the effect of processing on food product quality. 🧪🍽️ Building on knowledge from these disciplines, students look at innovation of food products from both a technological and a consumer perspective, describing product quality through properties such as consistency, colour, flavour and appearance. 🎨👅
The course starts with lectures, lab tutorials and sensory experiments, including an introduction to sensory analysis and the statistical programs used to handle sensory data sets. 📊 Students also learn the theory behind chemical analysis of foods using chromatography techniques, practiced in lab-simulation tutorials and explore the process of product innovation within its societal context, with emphasis on ethical issues. ⚖️🔬
In the second part of the course, known as DIPP (discipline integrating product practical), students work in groups to produce an innovated food product starting from raw materials, comparing its properties with an existing food product. 🥕🥪 They perform consumer interviews on their raw materials and innovated product, and write a scientific report on their experiments 📝
Using a texture analyser, students measured how much resistance food gives, in other words how firm it is. 💪 One group marinated meat with, among other things, pineapple, which should help make it more tender. 🍍🥩 Other innovations included cupcakes made with lentils 🧁, a carrot-based salmon alternative 🥕🐟 and even homemade panko. 🍞
