An important introduction to this topic is the definitions of nutrition and food science/food technology—equally important and mutually dependent scientific disciplines.  Food science is the study of the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food and the concepts underlying food processing. Food technology, on the other hand, is the application of food science to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, distribution, and use of safe food.  In one hundred years, we have progressed from striving to get enough food through decades of innovation, convenience in new products, the introduction of the concept of nutrition and food safety, to changing styles of food consumption.  Building on the work of many notable scientists like Louis Pasteur and other contributors to the evolution of food science, what will the future of food science bring us?

There are many definitions of nutrition, but perhaps the most comprehensive is that of the American Medical Association’s Council on Food and Nutrition which reads, “The science of food, the nutrients and other substances therein, their action, interaction, and balance in relation to health and disease and the processes by which the organism ingests, digests, absorbs, transports, utilizes and excretes food substances.” Nutrition science has evolved from the late 19th century with the growing understanding of macronutrients and the physiology of energy, through the early and late 20th century with the discovery of essential nutrients—the vitamin era, the birth of functional foods, and the concept of individualized nutrition.