Food technology is the application of food science to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, labelling, quality management, distribution and use of safe food, where food science refers to the study of the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food including the causes of food deterioration and the concepts underlying food processing. Some of the related fields are analytical chemistry, biotechnology, engineering, nutrition, quality control and food safety management.
Food Technology in India :
Food Technology is a combination of engineering, food science, hotel management, and home science. Going deeper into the dimensions of food technology, the world requires more professionals in this field. This has led to the emergence of food technology courses. There are wide opportunities in this field for students who wish to pursue a course in food technology. Students who are Graduates or postgraduates in the course can seek jobs in different domains such as restaurants, catering establishments, hospitals, food processing companies, etc. Considering the foodies that Indians are, food technology becomes a celebrated subject.
BE/B. Tech in Food Technology is a 4-year course. Food Technology deals with various chemical processes that food products undergo in order to make them ready for market and consumption. Food processors take clean, harvested crops or butchered animal products and use them to produce attractive, marketable food products with long shelf-life. Similar processes are utilized for animal feed. One can pursue M. Tech in Food Technology after successful completion of BE/B.Tech.
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Eligibility criteria
In order to pursue career in B. Sc/B. E/B. tech course in Food Technology a should have the following eligibility criteria –
1. 10+2 education completed in the Science stream from a recognized educational Board.
2. Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Biology/ Home Science as the main subjects at the 10+2 level.
3. A minimum of 50 per cent of marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in the intermediates.
For a student to pursue the Master level course, he or she has to have completed B. Sc/B. E./B. Tech in Food Science/ Food Science and Technology/ Food Technology and Management/ Food Technology/ Food Process Engineering/ Food Engineering/ Dairy Engineering/ Dairy Technology/ Agricultural & Food Engineering/ Dairy and Food Engineering, from a recognized institute with a minimum aggregate score of 45 - 50%.
Courses offered for Food Technology
Majorly the courses available in food technology are B. Sc and B. Tech as the undergraduate course for a duration of 3 years and 4 years respectively and M. Sc/ M. Tech as the post-graduation course for 2 years.
| Course | Average course fee (INR) | Annual starting salary (INR) |
| Diploma | 20,000 – 60,000 | 5 – 8 lacs |
| B. Sc | 20,000 – 60,000 | 5 – 8 lacs |
| B. E/B. Tech | 40,000 – 1.2 lacs | 2 – 3.5 lacs |
| M. Sc/M. Tech | 5,000 – 5 lacs | 3 – 12 lacs |
| Degree | Minimum course fee (INR) and college name | Maximum course fee (INR) and college name |
| UG | 0.048 lacs Dr Gafoor Memorial MES Mampad College, Malappuram | 11.4 lacs Amity University, Noida |
| PG | 0.049 Lakhs Dr Gafoor Memorial MES Mampad College, Malappuram | 24.65 Lakhs Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar |
Entrance exams to appear
Most colleges take up students based on the scores they obtained in the following tests. Some Universities and colleges conduct their tests independently while some considering the student’s performance in intermediate in science.
For B. Sc Food technology
1. JEEP (Joint Entrance Examination Preliminary)
2. CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute Entrance Examination)
3. IICPT (Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology Entrance Examination)
4. AIJEE (All India Joint Entrance Examination)
For B. Tech in Food Technology
1. Central Food Technological Research Institute Entrance Exam (CFTRI): Conducted by the CFTRI, Mysore
2. Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology Entrance Exam (IICPT)
3. All India Joint Entrance Exam (AIJEE): Conducted for admitting students into the B. Tech course in Food Technology and Biochemical Science.
4. The candidates must qualify the state Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) or the All India Joint Entrance Exam (AIJEE) for joining the course.
5. Lateral Engineering Entrance Test (LEET) for students to take entry into 2nd year of course, which is known as lateral entry.
For M. Sc and M. Tech
1. GATE food technology entrance exam
2. AIJEE: All India Joint Entrance Exams
3. IIS: The Indian Institute of Science entrance exams
4. Indian Institute of Technology Entrance Exam
5. Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology IICPT Entrance Exam
6. JEE: Joint Entrance Exams
7. CFTRI: Central Food Technology Research Institute
8. Allahabad University entrance exams
9. University of Madras entrance test
10. University of Calcutta entrance test
11. Andhra University entrance test
12. Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology entrance test.
Top colleges
The following list are some of the universities that admit students based on the below-mentioned entrance tests –
For B. Sc Food Technology
6. Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar
8. Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phoole University - [MJRPU]
10. Dev Bhoomi Group of Institutions - [DBGI]
11. Adikavi Nannaya University, Rajahmundry
12. Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada
13. Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam
14. Baba Farid College, Bathinda
15. Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan Mahavidyalaya, Unnao
16. Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola
17. Hindustan University, Chennai
18. JJTU University, Jhunjhunu
19. Rajiv Gandhi College, Bhopal
20. RIMT University, Gobind Nagar
21. SAFI Institute of Advanced Study, Malappuram
22. Silver Arts and Science College, Kozhikode
For M. Sc Food Technology
4. Jawaharlal Nehru Technology University
5. The Women’s Christian College
6. School of Health Science, Kerala
8. Mar Athanasious College for Advanced Studies
9. Hariyana Agricultural University
10. Central Food Technology Research Institute
11. Acharya N.G Ranga Agricultural University
12. Jadavpur University
For Diploma in Food Technology
1. AKS University, Madhya Pradesh
2. All India Institute of Public and Physical Health Science (AIIPPHS), Delhi
3. Ballarpur Institute of Technology (BIT), Maharashtra
4. Desh Bhagat Engineering College, Punjab
5. Doaba Polytechnic College, Mohali
6. Government Polytechnic, Goa
7. Government Polytechnic, Odisha
8. Government Polytechnic, Maharashtra
9. Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women’s University, Rajasthan
10. King’s Tourism and Hotel Management Institute, Tamil Nadu
11. Premlila Vithaldas Polytechnic, Maharashtra
13. Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET), Punjab
14. Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University Churchgate, Maharashtra
15. Shri Ram Institute of Management and Technology (SRIMT), Delhi
Recruitment and Job scopes
Career With Food Technology : A report by the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) stated that employment of food scientists and food technologists would grow by 11% from 2012-2022 because of an increase in new food products and safety measures. A student generally qualifies to take up Food technology jobs after successful completion of graduation or post-graduation courses. While the bachelor’s degree is sufficient, a master’s degree satisfies the competitive edge for the candidates. A master's degree or doctoral degree is also important for those, who want to build their career in research.
Graduates or postgraduates in food technology can go for jobs in different domains like hospitals, restaurants, flight kitchens, academic institutes, food analysis laboratories, food processing companies, catering establishments, soft drink manufacturing firms, food wholesalers, spice, cereal and rice mills, quality control and food inspection organisations, food research and development laboratories and packaging industries. Students with a postgraduate degree can also secure jobs at places such as biotechnology and bioinformatics companies, water conservation and research institutes and pharmaceutical industry.
Job Profiles
1. Food technologist
2. Nutritional therapist
3. Food scientist
4. Product/process development scientist
5. Quality manager
6. Process manager
7. Regulatory affairs officer
8. Scientific laboratory technician
9. Technical brewer
10. Production manager
12. Purchasing manager
13. Research scientist (life sciences)
14. Food sales representative
15. Toxicologist
16. Hygiene executive
17. Analyst
18. Small-scale entrepreneur
19. Home economist
20. Product development executive
21. Technical marketing personnel
Top Recruiters
1. Food Corporation of India
2. Modern Food Corporation
3. North-Eastern Agricultural Marketing Corporation
4. MTR Foods Limited
5. Dabur India Limited
6. PepsiCo India Holdings
7. Nestle India Private Limited
8. Agro Tech Foods
9. Perfetti India Limited
10. Cadbury India Limited
11. Gits Food Products Private Limited
12. Amul
13. Godrej Industrial Limited
14. Britannia Industries Limited
15. ITC Limited
16. Parle Products Private Limited
17. Hindustan Lever Limited
18. Milkfood
19. Coca-Cola India Limited
Salary and Pay Scale
Going back on days of May 2011, the BLS had predicted that food scientists and food technologists earned an average salary of $64,170 per year, or $30.85 per hour. And the middle 50 percent of this group earned between $43,240 and $80,300 per year, or $20.79 to $38.61 per hour. The median annual salary for food scientists and technologists was $59,630 as of May 2013.
An average food technologist in India earns about Rs 4,02,550. A bonus of Rs. 42,500, commission up to Rs. 50,000 and profit sharing of Rs. 30,000
With all those facilities provided for Food Technology in India; it definitely is a great career choice.
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