In 1934, the newly established National Northwest Agricultural and Forestry College (the predecessor of Northwest A&F University) began offering courses on agricultural product processing for agricultural science majors. This marked one of the earliest instances of food science and engineering education in China.
By 1936, the curriculum expanded significantly: the horticulture group launched courses on agricultural product processing, while the animal husbandry and forestry groups introduced processing courses for livestock and forestry products, respectively. In 1946, the Department of Agricultural Products and Manufacturing was founded, becoming one of the first departments in Chinese higher education to offer formalized education in food science and engineering. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China, the discipline gradually expanded to cover agronomy, horticulture, animal husbandry, forestry, agrochemistry, and related fields.
The modern Department of Food Science was established in 1986, with undergraduate enrollment beginning that same year. In 1999, this evolved into the College of Food Science and Engineering. Currently, the college comprises three departments: Food Science and Technology, Food Safety, and Nutrition and Health.
The college offers three undergraduate majors: Food Science and Engineering, Food Quality and Safety, and Food Nutrition and Health. Additionally, it hosts a Sino-US cooperative "3+1" undergraduate program in Food Science and Engineering. Notably, the Food Science and Engineering major is recognized as a National Characteristic Major, holds engineering education accreditation, and was selected for the "Double Ten Thousand" plan. The Food Quality and Safety major (est. 2001) and the Food Nutrition and Health major (est. 2019) were the first of their kind established in the region.
Regarding graduate studies, the college was authorized to confer master's degrees in Agricultural Product Processing and Storage Engineering in 1986, followed by Food Science in 2000. Doctoral degree authorization for Food Science and Engineering was granted in 2006, and a postdoctoral research station was approved in 2007. Currently, the college is authorized to grant both doctoral and master's degrees in four second-level disciplines: Food Science; Grain, Oil, and Vegetable Protein Engineering; Agricultural Product Processing and Storage Engineering; and Aquatic Product Processing and Storage Engineering. Furthermore, the college offers two professional master's degree programs: the Master of Engineering and the Master of Agricultural Extension.
As for research platforms, the college hosts five research platforms at the national, provincial, and ministerial levels, including the National Yangling Agricultural Comprehensive Experimental Engineering Technology Research Center and the Ministry of Agriculture’s Risk Assessment Laboratory for Agricultural Product Quality and Safety (Yangling). Additionally, it operates two provincial and ministerial-level inspection institutions, including the Ministry of Agriculture’s Food Quality Inspection and Testing Center (Yangling).
Focusing on the faculty, the college currently employs 137 faculty and staff members, including 100 full-time faculty. The academic team consists of 35 professors, 59 associate professors, 54 doctoral supervisors, and 87 master's supervisors. Distinguished faculty members include one member of the Discipline Appraisal Group of the State Council’s Academic Degrees Committee, two recipients of the State Council Special Allowance, and three recipients of national-level talent awards. Additionally, the faculty includes two scholars selected for the Ministry of Education's "New Century Excellent Talents Program," one recipient of the Shaanxi Provincial Outstanding Youth Fund, three scholars selected for the Shaanxi "Special Support Program" for high-level regional development talent, six Shaanxi Young Science and Technology Rising Stars, and five scholars selected for the Youth Talent Support Program of the Shaanxi Association of University Science and Technology Societies.
Relating to the student body and alumni, current enrollment exceeds 1,440 full-time undergraduates and 942 graduate students. In the 40 years since its establishment, the college has educated over 9,000 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students (including post-doctoral researchers), providing a large number of highly skilled professionals to the food industry and research institutes.
In terms of research achievements, over the past five years, the college has undertaken 690 research projects with total funding exceeding 1.1 billion RMB. These include more than 60 national-level projects, such as National Key R&D Programs, National Science and Technology Key Projects, and projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Furthermore, the college has managed over 300 projects funded by Shaanxi Province, local governments, and industry–university collaborations.
The college has received numerous accolades, including three First Prizes, three Second Prizes, and two Third Prizes at the Shaanxi Science and Technology Progress Awards, alongside 18 other awards at various levels. It has also completed more than 50 technology transfer projects. Faculty members have published over 900 papers in top international journals, including Nature Communications, Cell Metabolism, and Science Advances.
Upholding the college culture of “pursuing excellence in thought and action and ensuring food safety for the world”, the College of Food Science and Engineering follows the University’s “12345” development strategy and implements its own "34531" development strategy, taking education and teaching as the foundation and strengthening scientific research. The college is based in Shaanxi, oriented toward serving the whole country and open to the world. The college will continually highlight the close integration of production, education and research, and focus on major scientific and technical issues of food science in arid areas. Finally, the college is striving to build a distinctive, harmonious and civilized, internationally renowned, and domestic first-class College of Food Science and Engineering, which integrates high-level innovative talent training, high-level scientific research and high-tech demonstration.
