Mastering advanced food manufacture

Citation

Kendale, D. (2002), "Mastering advanced food manufacture", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 32 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2002.01732bae.001

Mastering advanced food manufacture

Mastering advanced food manufacture

Introduction

It is four years since this course was launched and Advanced Food Manufacture is pleased to announce five graduates this year and a new look programme for September 2002. This article explores the developments that have taken place in the last four years and new areas that the course will be exploring next year.

Advanced Food Manufacture was launched in 1998 as a new training and education initiative for the food industry. The course, run jointly by the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham, offers training and education opportunities by two approaches. Attend a short course module of specific interest to enhance food science or engineering skills, or build these over three years to a postgraduate qualification. Qualifications range from a six module Postgraduate Certificate, 12 modules for a Diploma or twelve modules and a project equal to a Masters degree.

Delegates attending courses are employed in various aspects of the food industry ranging from consultancy, research and development and production and range in academic backgrounds from HND/A level or equivalent to previous science or engineering degree.

The course is approved and recognised by the Institute of Food Science and Technology. Graduates with the appropriate industrial experience are eligible for membership and students are eligible for student membership.

Negotiations are underway with the IchemE to have modules on this course approved by IchemE as matching section under SARTOR guidelines for the purpose of MIChE status.

Graduates

This year has been a major milestone as the course celebrated its first three graduates in July and two more students will graduate in December. Paul Bailey, Lynne de Motte and Gavin Sharman, the July graduates, demonstrate the spread of academic backgrounds and job functions that the course attracts. Lynne and Paul graduated with a Masters degree from the University of Nottingham. Neither of them had previously studied at university level. Lynne works as Consultant with ADAS and Paul is employed in R&D. Gavin Sharman who works as a Food Technologist at Weetabix graduated with distinction at Birmingham.

Paul who is the Applied Technology Manager at FoodMaker Ltd has worked in the industry for 15 years. Paul has these comments about his experience of the course, "I have come away with a degree of confidence in my knowledge to combine with my experience. The course has fulfilled my expectations and given me the opportunity to meet a wide number of students of all ages and from many different disciplines across the food industry".

Gavin who has a first degree in chemistry, also gained at the University of Birmingham, says this about the course, "I have a more rounded perspective of the food industry and the problems that are faced on a day to day basis. This insight must make me a better employee. The project I completed helped to characterise one of our processes that previously was not well understood. This has given not only myself but also my company new knowledge".

The students who are expected to graduate in December are Natasha Sharma, a Development Technologist at Cadbury and Rebecca Lipscombe who is involved in research into Water Structuring in Foods at Unilever Colworth.

New modules and course structure

As part of the course's continuous improvement programme, market research was carried out earlier this year to try to determine the route that future courses should take. From results gathered on this survey and discussions with the industrial management committee the following changes are proposed for September 2002.

Modules will be categorised into one of six groups:

1. 1.

   Core. Foundation knowledge/new skills in food chemistry, microbiology and engineering.

2. 2.

   Manufacture. Techniques to aid innovation and productivity in modern food manufacture.

3. 3.

   Safety. Understanding key hygiene, food safety and microbiological issues.

4. 4.

   Quality. Quality management and the science behind the maintenance of product shelf life.

5. 5.

   Sensory. Skills needed to run a sensory evaluation programme.

6. 6.

   Business. Understanding how to improve profitability and successfully manage business.

To make completion of the MSc or diploma simpler, instead of five foundation modules, delegates will need to take three of the core modules and then choose nine modules from the remaining five groups including two from the business group.

Highlights of the new programme include a set of four sensory modules developed by Professor Andy Taylor at the University of Nottingham whose research group is well known for the development of the MS-Nose. These courses are being run in conjunction with Campden and Chorleywood Food RA.

It is also hoped to develop three new courses focusing on the development of food structure through thermal, physical and soft solid processing. This will enable delegates from different sectors of the food industry to attend courses specifically aimed at their product and technologies.

As an example, delegates from the cereal and snack food industries will be able to learn about extrusion and changes that occur to starch in this and allied types of processing in the physical processing module. Delegates from the ice cream, dairy and sauces industry will be able to learn about the rheology and stability of emulsions in the soft solids module.

To complete the course, delegates carry out research projects in their own work place, under joint university/employer supervision. Delegates choose their projects with the idea of innovation, problem solving, process design or product related issues. Projects completed so far include process characterisation to enable better control of parameters governing quality attributes of a cereal product, a process control and innovation study and a study of whether it is possible to recycle spent soya protein.

In-house courses

A second exciting development for the course in 2002 was the opportunity to deliver tailor made courses in-house to Frito Lay who are probably the largest snack food manufacturer in the world. A series of these courses was delivered to the company's research and development personnel who originated from the company's subsidiaries in Europe and Africa.

Delegates found the opportunity to meet with colleagues from across the company and interact with respected experts in their field very thought provoking and of great value in stimulating thought for development of new products and reviewing the way in which existing products are manufactured.

In particular, the workshop "brainstorm" sessions where delegates are invited to examine new techniques and research findings as applied to their products were found to be particularly challenging.

Conclusion

Since it was launched in 1998 five students on the Advanced Food Manufacture have graduated and around 100 delegates have attended short courses. Delegates have found the courses to be worthwhile and in many cases providing an opportunity to save money for their employer or introduce and innovative idea. Many delegates attending courses work in the food industry at a middle management level and had no previous experience of studying food science or engineering at an advanced level.

A course of this type is vital in developing the skill base and the ability of the food industry to innovate and increase productivity and profitability. All of these are vital if the UK industry is to survive and develop in the face of increased European and global competition.

Deborah KendaleCourse Co-ordinator, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, UK