Careers in Food Technology: Entrance exams, eligibility, and job prospects

Are you a foodie who is also passionate about technology? Then you can savour your passion for both by going for a career in Food Technology, which is concerned with the scientific techniques and processes that can turn raw materials into organic and inorganic food. This discipline also involves the packaging and preservation of food while complying with safety protocols and quality standards.

Studying Food Technology

• You need to pass your Class XII board exams or any equivalent exam with at least 50% aggregate and Physics, Chemistry and Maths or Biology as compulsory subjects.
  
• After completion of your board exams, you need to clear one of the entrance exams to get admission to BTech courses in Food Technology.
  
• You can now choose to appear for postgraduate entrance exams to pursue MTech courses in this discipline that mixes food and technology.
  

Some popular BTech entrance exams:

Joint Entrance Exam Main (JEE Main)

You need to clear the JEE Mains exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to NITs, CFTIs and other engineering institutes. It’s also the preliminary exam for JEE Advanced, which is required for admission to IITs and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad.

• Eligibility: You need to pass your Class XII board exams or any equivalent exam with Physics, Chemistry and Maths as required subjects. You also need at least 75% aggregate in your board exam to be eligible for admission to IITs, NITs and GFTIs.
  
• You can check more here.

Joint Entrance Exam Advanced (JEE Advanced)

You need to write this exam to get admission to IITs. To appear for JEE Advanced, you must first clear JEE Main.

• Eligibility: You need to be among the top 2,50,000 successful candidates (across all categories) in the BE/BTech paper of JEE (Main). You can sit for JEE Advanced only twice in two consecutive years.
  

• You can check more here.
  

West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE)

You need to clear WBJEE conducted by the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board for admission to private and government engineering institutions in the state. This OMR-based exam is held offline.

• Eligibility: You need to pass your Class XII board exams with Physics, Chemistry and Maths as compulsory subjects. Or you need to clear your 10+3 diploma exams with Maths as a compulsory subject. You also need to score at least 50% in each of the compulsory subjects and maintain at least 50% aggregate.
  
• You can check more here.

Birla Institute of Technology and Science Aptitude Test (BITSAT)

You need to clear the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS) entrance exam for admission to the institute’s BTech course in Food technology.

• Eligibility: You need to pass your Class XII board exams with Physics, Chemistry and Maths or Biology as compulsory subjects.
  
• You can check more here.

MTech entrance exam for Food Technology:

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)

You need to clear the GATE examination for admission to MTech courses in Food Technology at IITs and NITs.

• Eligibility: You need to complete your BTech course. You can appear for the exam even if you are in the final year of your BTech course.
  
• You can check more here.

Some popular institutes in India for Food Technology:

• Jadavpur University, Kolkata
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal
• Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
• Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai
• Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Tamil Nadu
• National Institute of Technology, multiple locations
• Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi
• Pondicherry University, Pondicherry
• Amity University, Noida
• Anna University, Chennai

Some job roles with a Food Technology degree:

• Food technologist: They are in charge of ensuring the safety of food products. They are also responsible for food packaging, food safety and storage management.
  
• Toxicologist: They investigate the effect of dangerous substances in food on humans and the environment. These professionals conduct lab tests and field studies to check for radioactive materials that may be present in food.
  
• Bacteriologist: They study the interactions between food, microorganisms and their reaction. They also collaborate with other scientists to carry out studies and trials.
  
• Dairy technologist: They are responsible for developing modern methods of producing, preserving and using dairy products by following scientific techniques and methods.
  
• Farm manager: They manage and supervise all activities on a farm. Other than fertilisation, planting, irrigation, flowering and harvesting on a crop farm, these professionals also monitor the general care of animals.
  
• Agriculture inspector: They examine food production practices such as logging, fishing, and farming to ensure that the food delivered to customers is safe to eat. Agriculture inspectors are in charge of inspecting meat processing plants to check if they are complying with safety protocols.