The Food Science Institute at KSU consists of approximately 40 Nationally and Internationally recognized faculty from five colleges and 11 departments that collectively work towards meeting the Institute's goal of facilitating undergraduate and graduate academic programs and providing both research and technical assistance for the food industry. The Institute and its faculty specialize in the following areas: food chemistry, food microbiology, food safety, veterinary medicine, cereal science, dairy science, meat science, food service, sensory analysis, food engineering, human nutrition, and product development.
The Food Science Institute offers four labs that are available for Industry use:
The Meat Science Facility provides meat processors and entrepreneurs an opportunity to use a state-of-the-art meat science research facility that provides opportunities for harvest, chilling, fabrication, processing, curing, smoking, packaging, display, and cooking of meats.
The Sensory Analysis Center has worked successfully with more than 100 U.S. and International companies assisting with project design, testing, analysis, and interpretation.
The Thermal Processing Lab allows operators to process their products from the raw stage through to the packaged, finished stage, and affords them a less-expensive opportunity to test their products and processing methods before making large investments.
The Value-Added/Product Development Lab includes facilities, equipment, and instruments for bench top food product development, packaging, and physical, chemical, and microbiological analyses of foods. The facility also provides shelf-life testing of food products, and is equipped with controlled atmosphere incubators.