Affiliated with College of Pharmacy & Science

Introduction

Food safety is an issue of common concern around the world, and particularly so in Taiwan, after a series of food-contamination scandals in recent years shook the public’s confidence in food safety. In 2011, the National Conference on Food Safety affirmed the urgency and importance of hiring qualified "food technicians" in food-factory management. Since 2012, each individual company in the food industry has been required to employ food technologists to implement food-safety control systems. As a result, food technician certificates and HACCP accreditation have become highly sought after in industry. In 2014, the "Food Safety and Health Management Act" revised regulations on “Personnel and Management Practices for Food Industry Professionals or Technicians with Certificates." This further intensified demand for professional technicians competent in food manufacturing, development, testing, and safety, as well as quality- assurance management.

Our department was founded in 1980 as a five-year vocational program, with the current four-year bachelor’s program being added in 2000. We were renamed the Department of Food Science and Technology in 2003, thus commencing our mission of becoming a leading trainer of food technologists in Taiwan

Teaching and Learning

The goal of our department is to cultivate professional technical personnel for the food industry. To achieve this aim, our curriculum is designed to assist students to meet requirements to become certified food technicians. The courses are organized into seven fields, including food and nutrition, food processing, food analysis, food hygiene, food chemistry, food microbiology and food engineering.

We offer modules in food security and development and manufacturing. The first is designed to strengthen students’ skills in food inspection and analysis, while the latter is concerned with research and development, manufacturing, marketing, planning and entrepreneurship. Our students also participate in placement programs hosted by the Ministry of Labor, such as the “Food Network Entrepreneurship Program,” the “Professionals for the Organic and Health Foods Industry Program”.

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