One of the world’s leading professional organizations for food scientists and technologists, the Institute for Food Technologists
(IFT) (http://www.ift.org/ (accessed 25.07.15.)) in the USA, defines food science as an integration of “.several basic sciences which
together focus on the unique challenges associated with foods and the systems needed to deliver food products to the consumer”
(Heldman, 2006). The applied nature of the food science discipline is exemplified by the definition of Potter and Hotchkiss (1998)
as the “application of basic sciences and engineering to study the physical, chemical, and biochemical nature of foods and the principles
of food processing.” Similarly, the University of California, Davis, describes food science as “. the application of scientific
principles to create and maintain a wholesome food supply” (http://foodscience.ucdavis.edu/about/ (accessed 25.07.15.)). These
definitions highlight two important features of food science, namely it is an applied discipline and thus is closely associated with
everyday practice; and it encompasses many basic science and engineering principles thus making it attractive to those wanting to
practice the basic sciences in an everyday setting. These features make food science an exciting discipline and explain why practitioners
of food science are so passionate about their craft. Groundbreaking developments within the basic science and engineering
disciplines can be quickly translated and applied to food systems, thus allowing for a rapid demonstration of these developments in
everyday systems we can all relate to. Indeed, the IFT has recognized that “innovative changes within the basic sciences exemplify
a natural and ongoing evolution of food science. as molecular biology has recently illustrated”