[ Special Feature ] Food Science and Technology Education at the National University of Singapore and the Food Manufacturing Industry in Singapore

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1 Food Science and Technology Education at the National University of Singapore and the Food Manufacturing Industry in Singapore Weibiao Zhou and Su-Chen Lim Introduction Food science and technology (FST) is a well-defined discipline dealing with all scientific and technical issues related to food. According to the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), USA, food science is the discipline in which biology, physical sciences, and engineering are used to study the nature of foods, the causes of their deterioration, and the principles underlying food processing. Food technology is the application of food science to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, distribution, and use of safe, nutritious, and wholesome food. The food industry is among the largest in the manufacturing sector in many countries, making a vital contribution to a nation s economy and employment rate. Worth about US$3.2 trillion today, the global market for processed foods is huge. The growing demand for healthy and quality products bodes well for the future of the industry. There are also related professional organizations in almost every country worldwide, such as the IFT in USA and the Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology (SIFST) in Singapore. At the international level, the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) is the sole global food science and technology organization. A country-membership organization, the IUFoST is a voluntary, nonprofit association of national food science organizations (e.g. IFT and SIFST) linking the world s best food scientists and technologists ( The IUFoST is a full Scientific Member of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). 12 Volume 12 > Number 4 >

2 Food Science and Technology Education at the National University of Singapore The Food Science and Technology Programme ( at the National University of Singapore (NUS) was established in August 1999, with its new laboratory and office suite officially opened on June 6, 2001 by Mr Sidek Saniff, the then Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Environment, Singapore. The Programme was established with an aim to serve the special need of providing high-quality manpower for the growing modern food industry of the 21st century in the country and the region. At present, the FST Programme at NUS offers the only degree course in Singapore with a major in food science and technology. The 4-year B.Appl.Sc. Honours program has been one of the most popular courses in the NUS Faculty of Science every year since its inception. The annual intake has grown steadily from around 30 in 1999 to 50 in 2008, selected from a large pool of highquality applicants including A-level graduates, polytechnic graduates, and foreign students. The FST Programme has received strong support from both government organizations and the industry. There are a number of prizes and scholarships specifically for FST students that have been donated by food companies and organizations. Over the years, NUS FST graduates have proven to be popular, having one of the highest employment rates among university courses and making valuable contributions to the nation (Fig. 1). Employment of FST Graduates Others 10.6% Further studies 11.5% F&B/Flavor 55.7% Government bodies 10.2% Teaching 6.3% Health/pharm aceuticals 5.7% Fig. 1. Employment distribution of NUS FST graduates The employment rate has been approximately 100% every year since The undergraduate syllabus has been carefully designed to largely follow the education standards recommended by the IFT and IUFoST, taking into consideration the educational philosophy and structure of NUS. The syllabus strikes a balance between fundamental sciences (e.g. chemistry, biology, microbiology, mathematics, and statistics) and FST-specialized subjects. With a dedicated team of seven academic staff who deliver FST-specialized subjects, other modules in the syllabus are taught by colleagues from various departments within the Faculty of Science as well as the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the NUS Business School. A l l t h i r d - y e a r s t u d e n t s are to spend one semester on a professional placement program, i.e. industrial attachment. In a real working environment, the industrial attachment enables students to develop interpersonal skills, individual maturity, and confidence, in addition to their technical competence. While the majority of students spend their industrial attachment in food companies and organizations in Singapore, some go to those in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK, and USA. Volume 12 > Number 4 >

3 Research and Industrial Collaborations Besides providing well-trained graduates, faculty members of the FST Programme strive to make the Programme a center of excellence in food science and technology by conducting high-quality research of international impact. The diverse research interests and expertise of the members cover almost all major fields of the food science and technology discipline, including food chemistry, bioactive molecules, food analysis, flavor science, food biopolymer, food processing and engineering, functional food, and nutrition and metabolism. Research grants are won from governmentfunding agencies, government organizations, and private companies. Staff members publish extensively in premier international journals, key international conference proceedings, and book chapters. There have been a number of large-scale collaborative research p r o j e c t s w i t h i n t e r n a t i o n a l companies such as Kikkoman, Cadbury Schweppes, Firmenich, and Nestle, just to name a few. Other scales of industrial collaborations have been conducted through new product development projects in undergraduate food innovation modules, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme in Science (UROPS) projects, Honours research projects, and postgraduate research projects. T h e K i k k o m a n N U S Collaborative R&D Laboratory was established in October 2005 and opened by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore s Minister for Education. Located on the university campus, the laboratory aims to develop new products and conduct research on the function and safety of new food products and Asian food. It is Kikkoman s first collaborative laboratory with a university. Based on the research results from this Collaborative R&D Laboratory over 2 years, a new product series was recently manufactured and marketed by Kikkoman. The products have been launched in Singapore and Hong Kong, with further plans to launch in more strategic markets of the Kikkoman Group. Fig. 2. Official opening of the Kikkoman NUS Collaborative R&D Laboratory. 14 Volume 12 > Number 4 >

4 Singapore s Food Manufacturing Industry In Singapore, food and beverage exports have been on the rise since Last year, they fetched as much as S$7 billion, exporting to the top five markets in Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and Thailand. This represents a 14.8% increase over 2006, and the numbers are expected to increase over the next few years. The population of Singapore reached just over 4.5 million in Singapore was ranked 11th in the top 20 fastest-growing markets for packaged foods, with a value growth of 3% in With an expected population of 6.5 million, the demand for packaged foods is likely to increase progressively over the next couple of years. A large number of enterprises both local and foreign are engaged in various parts of Singapore s food manufacturing industry cluster, from feed production to hatcheries, flavor creation, manufacturing, branding, and packaging, forming a vibrant ecosystem. At the heart of this ecosystem lie some 700 establishments specifically engaged in food manufacturing. The sector is made up largely of small- and medium-sized businesses, and is fragmented into more than a dozen subsectors. Singapore on the Global Food Map Notwithstanding the stiff competition in the food industry, strong consumer interest, high disposable incomes, and the demand for high-quality products are helping to keep growth in some industry subsectors strong. The changing nature of premiumization in Singapore has already been explored by Singapore s leading food manufacturers as an avenue for growth. High-value foods constitute a major share of total trade in the global economy, and this share has increased significantly in the last few decades. With increasing consumer demand for higher-valueadded products, premiumization is unquestionably showing no signs of subsiding. Being a key center of trade and commerce, Singapore holds the enviable position of being at the crossroads of Asia. Leveraging on its strategic location, world-class infrastructure, logistics connectivity, population diversity, and skilled manpower, many companies are increasingly using Singapore as their regional production, management, l o g i s t i c s, a n d r e s e a r c h a n d development base. Large food companies such as Cadbury Schweppes, Kikkoman, and Cerebos Pacific have set up their R&D centers in Singapore. Covance, a US-based biopharmaceutical drug development company, has also recently opened its first nutritional chemistry laboratory for Asia in Singapore. The country s cultural tapestry is heavily woven with distinct influences that capture the essence of its multicultural heritage, which is fully embodied in Singaporean food. Apart from the vast variety and tastes, food products from Singapore are highly regarded as being top notch in terms of product technology, food standards, quality, and safety. These elements have now been consolidated under the Tasty Singapore brand. Food manufacturers with products endorsed by the Tasty Singapore brand identify themselves as world-class food enterprises, with accredited food systems and processes that are geared to position Singaporean food well on the global food map. The Centre provides technology consultancy and advice to help local food companies develop technology applications that they can quickly adopt and commercialize. The Centre aims to complete 275 projects in the f i r s t 5 ye a r s, a n d generate a total valueadd of S$115 million (US$75 million). Catalyzing Opportunities Riding on Product Innovation As Singapore s food manufacturers actively attempt to innovate to stay ahead of the competition, support from strategic partners is crucial to their success. To provide the industry with such support, SPRING Singapore ( and Singapore Polytechnic jointly set up the Food Innovation and Resource Centre (FIRC), a center of innovation for the food industry, in May The FIRC plays a pivotal role in establishing Singapore as a strategic food hub in close collaboration with the industry and government agencies. The Centre provides technology consultancy and advice to help local food companies develop technology applications that they can quickly adopt and commercialize. The Centre aims to complete 275 projects in the first 5 years, and generate a total value-add of S$115 million (US$75 million). Volume 12 > Number 4 >

5 The FIRC taps into a network of local and overseas private and public expertise to complement their already-strong technical capabilities in assisting food companies accelerate the development of new products and processes, helping them to exploit opportunities in new growth areas and markets. The Centre will invest some S$7 million in state-of-the-art food processing and development equipment over the next 3 years. This will allow food manufacturers to create and test new products at the Centre. Moreover, the FIRC will go beyond product creation, and food companies (especially the smalland medium-sized enterprises) can tap into the FIRC s facilities for applications in such areas as sensory, process, packaging, and shelf-life evaluation technologies. The Centre has successfully formulated functional inulin-infused chocolates; patented twin-ply noodles that deliver double flavors with every bite; low-salt and low-fat Chinese sausages; and ready-to-cook sushi, yam, pineapple and claypot rice, etc. Fig. 3. Twin-ply noodles. Catalyzing Opportunities Enabling Market Access The Export Technical Assistance Centre (ETAC) was recently established by SRING Singapore to help local companies understand and comply with standards and technical regulations for exports. The ETAC works in collaboration with overseas partner agencies and regulatory authorities to provide the Food Import Regulations and Standards (FIRS) database, which was launched on July 24, This database provides information on the standards as well as technical and compliance requirements that could pose barriers to Singaporean exports; this is particularly important for food manufacturers, as the regulations pertaining to food vary widely across countries. Local companies can then tap into ETAC s expertise to advise them on matters concerning market access. n 16 Volume 12 > Number 4 >

6 About the Authors Dr Weibiao Zhou is an associate professor and director of the Food Science and Technology Programme at NUS. He obtained his BSc from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China, in 1982; his MEng from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (alias Academia Sinica) in Beijing in 1985; and his PhD from the University of Queensland, Australia, in Prior to joining NUS in 2001, Dr Zhou was an associate professor at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. His employment history also includes postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Waterloo, Canada, and visiting appointments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA; École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Agricoles et Alimentaires (ENSIA), France; and BRI Australia Ltd. Dr Zhou s research interests are in the area of food engineering and food processing. He serves on the international editorial boards of the International Journal of Food Engineering (USA), Food Manufacturing Efficiency (UK) (Asia Editor), International Journal of Food Properties (USA) (Associate Editor), and Food and Bioprocess Technology (USA). He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST), and a Professional Member of IFT (USA). He is a Council Member of the Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology (SIFST). Ms Su-Chen Lim is the head of Food Manufacturing, SPRING Singapore. She graduated with a degree in business administration from a Canadian university. She joined SPRING in 1996, and was initially responsible for upgrading industries and enterprises. As head of Food Manufacturing, she now works closely with many food manufacturing and related companies including the Singapore Food Manufacturers Association, Singapore Manufacturers Federation, local and overseas food R&D organizations, and government agencies. She has advised and helped many food companies, especially smalland medium-sized enterprises, develop their capabilities. Her work also involves identifying trends and needs to grow the Singapore food manufacturing industry. As the agency for enterprise development, SPRING Singapore aims to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises to develop a strong base of dynamic and innovative Singaporean enterprises. It helps to nurture a probusiness environment, facilitate the growth of industries, and enhance innovation and enterprise capabilities of small- and medium-sized enterprises for better access to markets and business opportunities. SPRING Singapore is also the national standards and conformance body. It helps to lower technical barriers to trade, provide quality assurance for products and services, and promote the industry use of Singaporean and international standards. Volume 12 > Number 4 >