Upcoming Events

Are you curious about earning a Penn State degree in Food Science? Join current students and professors to learn about classes, research opportunities, internships, careers, scholarships, alumni network, and more.

Justin L. Sonnenburg, Ph.D., The Alex and Susie Algard Endowed Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Human Microbiome Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

The Foreign Supplier Verification Program Workshop (VSVP) provides the credentials to meet FDA requirements for development and implementation of the Foreign Supplier Verification Program as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations.

This 2.5 day workshop addresses the basic principles of sensory science from discrimination and acceptance testing to good laboratory procedures to the theoretical underpinnings for these practices.

The Preventive Controls for Human Foods Certification Workshop provides the credentials to meet FDA requirements for development and implementation of HACCP based systems as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations. This 2 1/2 day course was developed by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance, a broad-based public private alliance created by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH) in cooperation with the Association of Food and Drug Officials. This course is presented by certified instructors from Penn State.

The Food Microbiology Short course provides insight into the most recent developments of food-borne pathogens, toxins, and contaminants that may occur in a food plant environment.

The Better Process Control School (BPCS) is a 2/4 day school designed for manufacturers of shelf-stable, acidified, and low-acidified foods (including pet foods). U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations in 21 CFR 108, 113, and 114 require that acidified and low-acid food manufacturers operate with a certified supervisor on hand at all times during production. This BPCS also meets U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regulations 9 CFR 318.300 and 381.300 for shelf-stable, thermally processed meat and poultry products.

A Bean-to-Bar course for both craft and industrial chocolate manufacturers. During this 4-day course, successful craft chocolate entrepreneurs, equipment manufacturers, and Penn State faculty will instruct you in the theory and practice of chocolate production from the selection of raw materials through the marketing of finished product.

The Penn State Department of Food Science faculty teach the core concepts of Food Science in context of real-world food examples in this 4 day short course. It is designed for technical personnel from other disciplines (chemistry, biology, engineering) and nontechnical personnel who have little or no experience in the food industry. You will learn vocabulary associated with food science and manufacturing, and learn the core principles of food chemistry, engineering, microbiology, nutrition, sensory science, and packaging taught in the context of real-world food examples.

Participants in this 3-day course will gain knowledge on the operational and regulatory procedures used for pasteurization, with an emphasis on milk.

This 3-day course begins with an overview of cultured product processing, dairy ingredients, and starter cultures. These principles are applied in lectures on the manufacture of buttermilk, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, Greek-style yogurt, cultured milk drinks, and novel products.