Innovating the Future of Food
The food we eat is shaped by science, from how it's developed and processed to its safety, quality and nutrition. At Cal Poly, the Food Science major combines chemistry, microbiology and food technology with hands-on learning to prepare you to create innovative products, improve food systems and help nourish a changing world.
What You’ll Study
You’ll learn how ingredients, technologies and production methods come together to create safe, nutritious and high-quality foods.
What You’ll Take Away
Through laboratory work, food processing and product development, you’ll graduate with the problem-solving skills to pursue careers in food safety, quality assurance, research and product innovation.
Find Your Place in the Future of Food
From creating innovative products to protecting food safety and developing more sustainable production methods, food science offers many ways to make an impact. Explore three concentrations that connect your interests with the scientific knowledge and hands-on skills to help shape the future of food.
Culinology
Discover where culinary creativity meets food science. Combine cooking techniques with chemistry, food processing and product development to transform innovative ideas into foods consumers enjoy. Build the skills to create products that balance flavor, quality and commercial production.
Food Safety
Explore the science and systems that keep our food safe from production to consumption. Build hands-on knowledge in food microbiology, quality assurance, food safety regulations and risk management while learning to protect consumers and support safe, reliable food production.
Sustainable Food Technology
Discover how science and technology can make food production more efficient and sustainable. Explore food processing, resource management and emerging technologies while developing the skills to reduce waste, improve production systems and create innovative food solutions.
Coursework Highlights
Explore courses that take food science from theory to practice. Through hands-on learning in food chemistry, processing, nutrition, sensory evaluation and product development, you’ll build the knowledge and skills to create safe, nutritious and innovative foods.
Classes and Labs Options
Discover how food science and sustainability come together to shape the foods we enjoy. You’ll explore ingredients, food chemistry, preservation and processing while learning how sustainable practices can improve food production and quality.
Build a broad foundation in how raw ingredients become the foods we enjoy through processing techniques such as heating, freezing, drying and fermentation. You’ll explore food quality, preservation, packaging and labeling while learning how these processes shape modern food production.
Explore how the nutrients in food support the body and influence overall health. You’ll study how nutrients are digested, absorbed and used by the body while learning to apply nutrition science to support health and wellbeing.
Examine how food traditions and cultural practices shape the way people eat, connect and experience health. You’ll examine diverse food customs across American cultures while reflecting on your own experiences and the relationships between food, identity and wellbeing.
Explore the chemistry behind the foods we eat, from proteins and carbohydrates to fats and water. You’ll discover how these components interact and change during processing and storage, influencing food quality, texture, flavor and stability.
Put food science into practice through laboratory techniques that reveal what’s inside the foods we eat. You’ll learn to measure nutrients and other food components using scientific methods that support food analysis and quality evaluation.
Gain experience in horse care, behavior and handing. Practice daily management skills Explore how taste, smell, texture and appearance shape the way we experience food. You’ll learn to design sensory tests, conduct tasting panels and analyze results while discovering how sensory science helps evaluate food quality and guide product development.
Turn food ideas into real products through hands-on development, from concept and ingredient selection to formulation and testing. You’ll explore how ingredients influence food quality and performance while using consumer feedback to refine prototypes and prepare products for market.
Experience Food Science
Build your community and your career through clubs, research and experiences that connect you to the science, food and industry professionals who are shaping the future of food science.
Find Your People
Build a community that shares your passion for food and make lifelong professional contacts in the Food Science Club.
You’ll make delicious olallieberry jam, take part in campus event, interact with industry speakers, and attend off-campus professional meetings.
Hands-On Learning Labs
Explore the specialized laboratories and commercial-scale processing facilities where food science comes to life. From sensory evaluation and food safety testing to product development and production, you’ll gain hands-on experience with the science and technologies shaping the food industry.
Blended Bachelor‘s and Master’s Program
Take your Food Science education further through a blended program that combines undergraduate and graduate study. Deepen your scientific expertise, explore advanced research and build the skills to pursue new opportunities across the food industry.
Explore Food Science
Discover the major, hands-on facilities and experiences that can help you build a future with food.