Food science is the applied science devoted to the study of food. The Institute of Food Technologists defines food science as "the discipline in which the engineering, biological, and physical sciences are used to study the nature of foods, the causes of deterioration, the principles underlying food processing, and the improvement of foods for the consuming public". The food you consume on a daily basis is the result of extensive food research, a systematic investigation into a variety of foods'' properties and compositions. After the initial stages of research and development comes the mass production of food products using principles of food technology. This textbook defines food science in simpler terms as "the application of basic sciences and engineering to study the physical, chemical, and biochemical nature of foods and the principles of food processing".
