Nutrition and Food Science

This course is accredited by the Association for Nutrition (AfN), the independent regulator for Registered Nutritionists.

After graduating you will be eligible to apply to become a Registered Associate Nutritionist with the AfN. This is via the direct entry pathway, and will strengthen your status as a nutrition professional.

The government’s key requirement of the food sector, to provide nutritious food, encourages experts from industry and academia to work together to improve food standards. Your studies will explore the scientific aspects of food and nutrition, and assess the wider implications of diet on health and wellbeing.

The breadth of the course aims to increase your understanding of:

• human nutrition
• the development of healthy eating trends
• key aspects of food and health
• food composition
• food storage, safety, and manufacturing.

You will work with expert academics from the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, and as part of your studies, you will work in some of the UK’s largest dedicated food teaching facilities. These include:

• Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition (HSUHN). This facility has an international reputation for its research into the relationship between diet and the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and cancer. The unit’s clinical research informs governments and the food sector. You will have the opportunity to undertake your final project at the Unit.

• Food Processing Centre. This pilot plant is unique to Reading. There is almost 1100m2 of floor space devoted to approximately £4m worth of equipment. Used primarily for teaching and learning, the plant contains processing equipment for food product development work. No other UK university offers what we do under one roof.

• Flow Cytometry Suite. A range of specialist labs for assessing human gut microflora.

We are proud of our research: the University of Reading is ranked 8th in the UK for research power in Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Sciences (Times Higher Education, Institutions Ranked by Subject, based on its analysis of the latest Research Excellence Framework 2021) and 95% of our research is of international standing (REF 2021, combining 4*, 3* and 2* submissions – Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Sciences). As an MSc Nutrition and Food Science student, you will also have access to – and are encouraged to get involved in – the most up-to-date knowledge in the field of food science and nutrition.

Build on your existing knowledge with MSc Nutrition and Food Science

This master’s course is for graduates with science degrees that have a significant element of biological science.

Your studies will build on your existing scientific knowledge and develop your expertise in human nutrition.

You will learn through a variety of teaching methods, such as lectures and laboratory work, and your studies will culminate in a research project. This project can be conducted:

• within the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences
• at the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition
• or with one of our industrial partners.

You can attend this course on a full-time basis over one year, or part-time over two years.