Degree in Food Science and Technology

  • Know, judge and know how to use and apply the sources of information related to nutrition, food, lifestyles and health.
  • Be able to assume social and ethical commitments.
  • Participate in business teams of social marketing, advertising and health claims.
  • Collaborate in the planning and development of policies on food, nutrition and food safety based on the needs of the population and health protection.
  • Recognise plurality and respect differences.
  • Know the historical, anthropological and sociological evolution of food, nutrition and dietetics in the context of health and disease.
  • Know the social, cultural and psychological factors that may affect the origin, development and treatment of eating disorders, and of food risks and crises.
  • Know the origin of the different attitudes towards food and understand basic theoretical and methodological principles for the social and anthropological analysis of the food system and, in particular, food consumption, food preparation and eating habits.
  • Know about planning and prevention of occupational risks.
  • Know about health care planning and organisation.
  • Know health promotion and disease prevention strategies.
  • Know the techniques and applications of environmental health and industrial hygiene in the field of food industry.
  • Know the relationship between environment and health.
  • Know the methods and means of health education.
  • Acquire knowledge on epidemiology and prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
  • Acquire knowledge of the epidemiological method and its application to the field of food.
  • Know and assess the determinants of health.
  • Acquire the ability to perform basic calculations.
  • Know about the changes in toxic substances taking place during the technological processing of foodstuffs.
  • Know the basic concepts of health and public health.
  • Know the hygiene and preventive measures applicable to the major alterations in food products caused by toxic substances and chemicals originated during food processing.
  • Understand the use of guides to good hygiene practice as a tool to ensure the proper handling of food.
  • Prevent food poisoning by establishing toxicity safety limits in order to ensure safe food to the population.
  • Recognise one's own limitations and the need to maintain and update professional competence, with particular emphasis on independent and lifelong learning of new facts, products and techniques in the field of nutrition and food, and on motivation for quality.
  • Know the methods most commonly used for the analysis of toxics in food.
  • Be familiar with aspects related to the economics and management of food companies.
  • Know the legal and ethical limits of professional practice.
  • Know the basics of hygiene in food, processes and products.
  • Assist in the development, labelling, communication and marketing of foodstuffs according to social needs, scientific knowledge and legislation in force.
  • Participate in the management, organisation and provision of food services.
  • Develop the capacity to convey information, ideas, problems and solutions in the field of ethics and professional ethics, both to a specialist and non-specialist audience.
  • Acquire the ability to formulate and solve problems, as well as to make decisions within a limited time frame.
  • Know and understand the fundamental concepts associated with environmental management.
  • Know and understand the fundamentals and the components of quality systems.
  • Apply tools and indicators for quality control.
  • Be able to document and implement a quality management system according to UNE-EN-ISO standards.
  • Be able to document and implement an environmental management system according to UNE-EN-ISO standards.
  • Know the procedures for planning and conducting quality audits.
  • Be able to prepare a written report in a correct, understandable and organised manner.
  • Be familiar with the marketing of food products.
  • Design and interpret food surveys.
  • Recognise the plurality of points of view that make up the reality of food and nutrition through different social agents and discourses.
  • Be able to present and defend a degree final project before an examination panel demonstrating an ability to integrate the contents learnt and the skills acquired.
  • Acquire skills for presenting a project orally or in writing.
  • Understand, evaluate and apply gender perspective in the scientific and professional fields.
  • Contribute to the development of human rights, the principles of democracy, the principles of equality between women and men, solidarity, protection of the environment and promotion of the culture of peace, from a gender perspective.
  • Have the ability to make decisions, assuming leadership when appropriate.
  • Develop the capacity for organisation and planning.
  • Acquire the capacity to convey ideas, analyse problems critically and propose solutions.
  • Be able to apply the knowledge gained throughout the course of study to the professional world.
  • Practice the profession with respect to other professionals and acquire skills to work in teams.
  • Keep a receptive attitude and understand the meaning of the knowledge transmitted.
  • Recognise the essential elements of the profession including ethical principles, legal responsibilities and the practice of the profession, apply the principle of social justice to professional practice, and work with respect to people, their habits, beliefs and cultures.
  • Be familiar with discipline-specific terminology.
  • Master the techniques for diagnosing and identifying microorganisms in food.
  • Know the sources of exposure, pathophysiology, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of poisoning by natural and artificial toxic substances present in food.
  • Be familiar with the hygiene and health measures for the prevention and control of foodborne parasitic diseases.
  • Know the parasites specific of meat products, fish products and by-products.
  • Acquire knowledge of the approach, methodology and development of food analyses in order to assess their application to specific cases.
  • Know about the harmful effects of toxic substances in food, mechanism and signs of these effects.
  • Know about the various toxicokinetic processes (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion).
  • Be aware of the importance of foodborne parasitic diseases.
  • Know about toxicological risk assessment procedures.
  • Know the general mechanisms of toxic action.
  • Know and understand the different types of biological cycles related to foodborne parasites.
  • Master the techniques for sampling, diagnosing and identifying parasites in food.
  • Know food-spoiling parasites.
  • Know and understand the epidemiology of foodborne microbial diseases.
  • Know about foodborne pathogenic microorganisms.
  • Know food-spoiling microorganisms.
  • Know the parasites causing water, fruit and vegetable contamination.
  • Know food-contaminating microorganisms.
  • Know how to apply the main analytical methodologies (physical, chemical and sensory) appropriate to the object and purpose of the analysis proposed.
  • Acquire skills for searching, selecting, preparing, improving and evaluating procedures of food analysis.
  • Know and understand essential processes in the transmission of genetic information from DNA to protein.
  • Know about the major metabolic pathways and obtain an integrated view of metabolism and its regulation.
  • Know the mechanisms of production and transformation of energy.
  • Master the use of sampling techniques for the microbiological analysis of food.
  • Understand the operation of enzymes and their regulation.
  • Know the structure and properties of biological macromolecules and their relationship with the function that they perform.
  • Develop new processes and products in the food industry.
  • Know food products derived from the application of new technologies or new nutritional knowledge, as well as their legislative framework and social impact.
  • Intervene in the food quality and safety of products, facilities and processes.
  • Know about genetically modified food and its health, environmental and economic implications, as well as its social effects and legal framework.
  • Understand nutrition and the changes to be made in special situations, according to metabolic adaptations and specific nutritional needs.
  • Manage food safety.
  • Know the metabolic and functional changes that have a nutritional impact on the different stages of the life cycle and modify the diet according to the energy requirements of each developmental stage.
  • Know about macro- and micronutrients and other components of food, their function in the organism, food sources, energy value, bioavailability, needs and recommendations, as well as the impact of their deficiency and excess on health.
  • Know the biotechnological processes applied to the production of food, ingredients and food additives.
  • Apply the techniques, methods and tools that allow the assessment of individual nutritional status.
  • Apply emerging technologies of food processing and preservation to develop new products with improvements in quality, costs and environmental impact.
  • Apply the knowledge of transformation and preservation processes to the development of new processes and products.
  • Study the interactions of and between nutrients that may affect their bioavailability.
  • Know the bases of energy and nutritional balance and the bases of healthy eating in order to establish a balanced, varied and sufficient diet.
  • Implement quality systems and assess and manage food quality.
  • Know the different eating patterns and habits. Study nutritional objectives and dietary guidelines.
  • Understand the basic principles of genomic organisation, heredity and biological diversity.
  • Know and understand the structure and function of plants and animals.
  • Know the cell cycle and its regulation.
  • Understand where the different cellular processes take place.
  • Know and understand the levels of organisation of plants and animals.
  • Conocer los procesos industriales de transformación y conservación de los alimentos así como las tecnologías de envasado y almacenamiento de los principales tipos de industrias alimentarias
  • Know the mechanisms and parameters for the control of processes and equipment and the systems of control and optimisation of processes and products applied to the main types of food industries.
  • Understand cell function in general terms.
  • Know the structure and evolution of cells.
  • Know general aspects preliminary to the analysis and apply them to the specific field of food.
  • Analyse food.
  • Acquire knowledge to design and/or improve food.
  • Carry out staff training.
  • Prepare and submit a report of the experimental study conducted.
  • Develop the capacity to gather and convey information in English at a level equivalent to the B1 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
  • Develop the capacity to communicate ideas, problems and solutions within their field of study from a gender perspective.
  • Know how to reason, structure and solve problems with a mathematical basis.
  • Acquire the ability to interpret relevant data.
  • Develop skills to undertake further study.
  • Study the molecular origin of the basic functions of living beings and their main biotechnological implications.
  • Know the general and specific parameters of quality for each food group.
  • Acquire capacity to assess the impact of the consumption of food on the health of the population.
  • Know the technological, nutritional and health properties of foodstuffs.
  • Know the composition of the different food groups.
  • Know the definition and classification of different food products according to national, European and international legal standards.
  • Acquire the knowledge and skill needed to elucidate the causes of organoleptic and/or nutritional modifications of components and/or food.
  • Modelling and problem solving: be able to identify the essential elements of a process/situation and to establish a working model; be able to take the approaches required to reduce a problem to a manageable level; have critical thinking skills to build physical models.
  • Know and apply the principles of the self-control system (HACCP) to evaluate and control food quality.
  • Understand and interpret how each organ is involved in the maintenance of the constancy of the internal environment.
  • Know and understand the epidemiology of foodborne parasitic diseases.
  • Master the techniques of cultivation, isolation and identification of microorganisms in food.
  • Isolate pure cultures of microorganisms, evaluate microbial growth and work bearing in mind the aseptic technique and the concept of sterility.
  • Apply preventive measures against the transmission of foodborne microbial diseases.
  • Understand microbial genetics, the importance of the variability of the DNA in evolution and the applications of genetic engineering to the area of food.
  • Understand the mechanisms of microbial pathogenicity and the importance of the nonspecific and specific defences against infection.
  • Know the basic physiology of the human body from the molecular level to the full body, at the various stages of life.
  • Understand the growth of microorganisms both at individual and at population level, their requirements and the methods for controlling them.
  • Know and understand the criteria for the classification and identification of microorganisms, in particular, the differential physiological and biochemical characteristics of microorganisms of food significance.
  • Carry out health and hygiene analyses related to food.
  • Design, apply and evaluate reagents, methods and analytical techniques.
  • Be familiar with statistics applied to health sciences.
  • Gain basic knowledge of the different types of microorganisms.
  • Differentiate between antibiotics and synthetic and semisynthetic chemotherapeutic agents and understand the importance and the genetic basis of microbial resistance to chemotherapeutic agents.
  • Identify, design, obtain, analyse, control and produce food and other goods and raw materials of health significance for human or veterinary use.
  • Know the operation of devices and elementary techniques related to the subject.
  • Learn the fundamentals for using the scientific equipment directly related to their professional activity.
  • Know how to apply the scientific method and acquire skills for managing the main bibliographic sources.
  • Learn to understand the body as a whole.
  • Analyse the data observed using a statistical package.
  • Have an in-depth knowledge of the natural resources used for the production of raw materials intended for obtaining food.
  • Acquire basic training for research.
  • Learn how to analyse those factors linked to production systems that can exert a greater influence on the yield and quality of food.
  • Know how to apply the knowledge acquired to the preparation and preservation of food.
  • Determine the influence of physical and chemical factors on the components of food.
  • Know the physico-chemical properties, chemical reactions and technological functions of the components of food.
  • Use laboratory or pilot plant equipment similar to that used in the food industry.
  • Be able to select, size and analyse the operation of processing equipment based on energy transfer.
  • Be able to select, size and analyse the operation of processing equipment based on momentum transfer.
  • Manage by-products and waste.
  • Be able to select, size and analyse the operation of processing equipment based on simultaneous mass and energy transfer.
  • Apply the equations for reaction rate and mass and energy balances to design chemical reactors.
  • Understand and interpret animal and plant diversity.
  • Know the mechanisms of heat transfer.
  • Be able to select, size and analyse the operation of processing equipment based on mass transfer.
  • Know the mechanisms and equations of property transfer rate: convective flow and diffusive flow.
  • Know the modes of operation of the food industry.
  • Understand and classify unit operations.
  • Apply the equations for convective heat flow to calculate the size of concentric-tube heat exchangers.
  • Apply the equations for conductive heat flow to calculate the thickness of insulation.
  • Provide scientific and technical advice to the food industry and consumers.
  • Control and optimise processes and products in the food industry.
  • Interpret the results provided by statistical packages.
  • Describe and synthesise the dataset observed in the experiment.
  • Basic and applied research: acquire an understanding of the nature of research in physics, how it is conducted and how physics research is applicable to many different fields; be able to design experimental and/or theoretical procedures for: (i) solving common problems in academic or industrial research; (ii) improving existing results.
  • Analyze and evaluate food safety risks
  • Show good judgement to select the different species according to requirements, and to choose the most suitable production techniques to obtain final characteristics of raw materials suited to consumer preferences.
  • Be able to identify the different agricultural production systems and understand how media, factors and processes combine.
  • Know and understand the impact of fertilisation, farming techniques, operation of farms, physiology of the animal species used and other aspects that affect the final characteristics of raw materials of plant and animal origin.
  • Theoretical understanding of physical phenomena: have a good understanding of the most important physical theories (logical and mathematical structure, experimental support, described physical phenomena).
  • Acquire knowledge of physiology and optimal management of plants and animals used for food production.
  • Interpret information regarding a problem and translate it into process variables or variables of operation of equipment.
  • Know the practical tests that can be performed to demonstrate the different hypotheses related to animal and plant biology.
  • Know how to apply that knowledge to the professional world contributing to the development of human rights, democratic principles, the principles of equality between women and men, solidarity, protection of the environment and promotion of the culture of peace, from a gender perspective.
  • Have knowledge and understanding in the area of food science and technology.
  • Problem solving: be able to evaluate clearly the orders of magnitude in situations which are physically different, but show analogies, thus allowing the use of known solutions in new problems
  • Manufacture and preserve food.
  • Be able to solve simple quantitative problems related to chemical processes, both in equilibrium and from a kinetic standpoint.
  • Know how to apply the general rules of nomenclature for organic compounds, including stereochemistry.
  • Be able to name and formulate inorganic and organic chemical compounds.
  • Know reactions in solution, the different states of matter and the principles of thermodynamics.
  • Be able to solve basic problems for determining empirical and molecular formulas of compounds.
  • Know the bioactive components that are essential in the design of functional food.
  • Know the general reactivity of the most important functional groups found in organic molecules.
  • Know the role of biotechnology and new trends in food technology for developing and marketing functional and genetically modified foods.
  • Know the ethical and social implications of new foods.
  • Know the law applicable to functional and genetically modified foods and their possible nutrition and health claims.
  • Know the methods most commonly used for obtaining the different types of compounds.
  • Know the mechanisms of the most important chemical transformations.
  • Recognise the types of bonds that can occur in organic compounds and the different types of representation of organic molecules.
  • Be capable of explaining phenomena and processes related to basic aspects of chemistry in an understandable style.
  • Know the different functional groups found in organic molecules and relate the presence of functional groups with the physico-chemical properties of organic molecules.
  • Know the developments in the applications of sensory analysis for the design and validation of the processes of manufacture and preservation of foods.
  • Develop the ability to estimate the risks associated with the use of chemicals and laboratory processes.
  • Know about the different sensory techniques, the methods for recruiting and training teams of tasters, the design of experiments and the statistical techniques applicable to sensory analysis.
  • Know the practical aspects of wrapping and packaging technology and its impact on food quality and safety.
  • Conocer los criterios para la selección de la maquinaria de envasado.
  • Be able to relate the presence of functional groups in molecules with their reactivity against different processes (replacement, removal, addition, hydrolysis, oxidation, reduction, etc.).
  • Acquire the knowledge needed to solve derivatives, integrals and differential equations.
  • Know the different methods to make wine and understand the technological, biochemical and microbiological aspects.
  • Know the equipment needed in the different winemaking techniques.
  • Know the different microbial alterations of wines.
  • Know about the application of biotechnology to improving the processes of winemaking
  • Be able to set out problems with differential equations.
  • Know the methods used for the manufacture of additives.
  • Understand and be able to predict the behaviour of organic compounds in different environments (chemical, biological, environmental).
  • Know, apply and solve mass and energy balances to calculate flows, compositions, temperatures and energy needs of processes in the food industry.
  • Know legislation on additives.
  • Knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of physics in theoretical and experimental aspects, and the mathematical background needed for its formulation.
  • Actively participate in the intellectual and scientific learning process.
  • Saber interpretar, valorar y comunicar datos relevantes en las distintas vertientes de la actividad profesional, haciendo uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación.
  • Be informed of the key elements of the operation of the main sectors of mass catering and recommend ways to better serve its feeding and social function in the field of community nutrition and public health.
  • Know the additives arising from new knowledge on their natural sources or resulting from food biotechnology.
  • Know the role of food additives in the design and innovation of new food ingredients, products and processes.
  • Know the methodology for the proper selection of containers according to the product to be packed and the marketing planned.
  • Know about new trends in food packaging: active and smart packaging and its application in the food industry.
  • Know the toxicological aspects of additives.
  • Students must have acquired knowledge and understanding in a specific field of study, on the basis of general secondary education and at a level that includes mainly knowledge drawn from advanced textbooks, but also some cutting-edge knowledge in their field of study.
  • Know the ethical constraints of research in health sciences.
  • Be able to fill in an application form for a research project.
  • Know the basics of occupational toxicology.
  • Know the main forums for scientific discussion and their usual operation.
  • Apply the methods of sensory analysis to research in the food industry and to improve the acceptability of new processes and products.
  • Students must have developed the learning skills needed to undertake further study with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must be able to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both expert and lay audiences.
  • Students must have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually in their field of study) to make judgements that take relevant social, scientific or ethical issues into consideration.
  • Students must be able to apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional manner and have acquired the competences required for the preparation and defence of arguments and for problem solving in their field of study.
  • Master the techniques for retrieving information from primary and secondary sources, including the use of computerised databases.
  • Understand what a doctoral thesis is and how to write it and present it.
  • Be able to write, present and defend research outcomes.
  • Know the anamnesis and clinical and dietary history as a prelude to the individual nutritional assessment.