Curricula for the BSc (FSc) in Food Chemistry

Overview

This program is intended for those students interested in the chemistry of foods. The courses are integrated to acquaint the student with various aspects of food chemistry. The program prepares one for employment as a scientist in industry or government in regulatory, research, quality control, or product development capacities. Graduates have the academic qualifications for membership in the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology and the Institute of Food Technologists. Graduates may also qualify for admission to the Ordre des chimistes du Québec which confers the right of practice as an accredited professional chemist in Quebec per se as well in the rest of Canada.

If you are starting in the fall 2023 please click on the link below:

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Academic advisors

U-0 - freshmanadvisor.macdonald [at] mcgill.ca (Professor Alice Cherestes)
U-1 - varoujan.yaylayan [at] mcgill.ca (Professor )Stephane Bayen
U-2 - jennifer.ronholm [at] mcgill.ca (Professor Jennifer Ronholm)
U-3 - saji.george [at] mcgill.ca (Professor Saji George)

Food Chemistry Option – Fall 2021 Entry

Credit Total 90/91

Term 1 (Fall 2021)

FDSC 200 Introduction to Food Science 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: This course enables one to gain an appreciation of the scope of food science as a discipline. Topics include introductions to chemistry, processing, packaging, analysis, microbiology, product development, sensory evaluation and quality control as they relate to food science. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall 3 lectures Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Xiaonan Lu	Required
FDSC 213 Analytical Chemistry 1 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: Theoretical aspects of wet chemical techniques including gravimetric and volumetric analyses, redoximetry, and separation techniques. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Yixiang Wang	Required
LSCI 211 Biochemistry 1 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Life Sciences: Biochemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids; enzymes and coenzymes. Introduction to intermediary metabolism. Offered by: Parasitology Co-requisite: FDSC 230 Restriction: Not open to students who have taken FDSC 211 Terms Fall 2024 Winter 2025 Instructors Igor Cestari, Thavy Long Thavy Long, Igor Cestari	Required; offered in both Fall and Winter terms
FDSC 230 Organic Chemistry 4 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: Atomic and molecular structure, modern concepts of bonding, overview of functional groups, conformational analysis, stereochemistry, mechanisms and reactions of aliphatic compounds. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall or Winter 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite(s): AECH 110 or CHEM 110 or equivalent of CHEM NYA in CEGEP. Terms Fall 2024 Winter 2025 Instructors Alice D Cherestes Alice D Cherestes	Required (if it not already taken at CEGEP or in the McGill Freshman program) OR choose an Elective
000 Elective	Required

Term 2 (Winter 2022)

FDSC 233 Physical Chemistry 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: Introduction to kinetic theory, thermodynamics, properties of liquids and solids, chemical equilibrium and the law of mass action, phase rule, properties of solutions, chemical kinetics. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Ashraf A Ismail	Required
FDSC 251 Food Chemistry 1 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: A study of the chemistry and functionality of the major components comprising food systems, such as water, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. The relationship of these components to food stability will be studied in terms of degradative reactions and processing. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite: FDSC 211 or LSCI 211 Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Ashraf A Ismail	Required
LSCI 230 Introductory Microbiology 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Life Sciences: The occurrence and importance of microorganisms in the biosphere. Principles governing growth, death and metabolic activities of microorganisms. An introduction to the microbiology of soil, water, plants, food, humans and animals. Offered by: Natural Resource Sciences Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Sebastien Faucher	Required
FDSC 334 Anal of Food Toxins&Toxicants 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: Toxins and toxicant residues in food including heavy metals, persistant organic pollutants (POPS) and microbial toxins are explored from an analytical perspective; new methods and strategies of analysis are emphasized. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite: FDSC 213 or permission of instructor. Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Stephane Bayen	Required
AEMA 310 Statistical Methods 1 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Mathematics (Agric&Envir Sci): Measures of central tendency and dispersion; binomial and Poisson distributions; normal, chi-square, Student's t and Fisher-Snedecor F distributions; estimation and hypothesis testing; simple linear regression and correlation; analysis of variance for simple experimental designs. Offered by: Plant Science Two 1.5-hour lectures and one 2-hour lab Please note that credit will be given for only one introductory statistics course. Consult your academic advisor. Terms Fall 2024 Winter 2025 Instructors Pierre R L Dutilleul Jaskaran Dhiman	Required

Term 3 (Fall 2022)

FDSC 300 Principles of Food Analysis 1 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: The fundamentals of food analysis are presented with the emphasis on the major components of foods. Topics include: food components, sampling, method selection, official methods, proximate analysis, moisture, protein, fat, ash, fiber, carbohydrates, vitamins and nutraceutical compounds. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite: FDSC 251 or permission of instructor. Corequisite: FDSC 251 or permission of instructor. Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Saji George	Required
FDSC 305 Food Chemistry 2 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: A study of the chemistry and functionality of the minor components comprising food systems, such as enzymes, anthocyanins, carotenoids, additives, vitamins and essential oils. The relationship of these components to food stability in terms of degradative reactions and processing. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite: FDSC 251 Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Benjamin K Simpson	Required
FDSC 310 Post Harvest Fruit&Veg Technol 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: The post harvest chemistry and physiology of horticultural crops as they affect quality and marketability, handling methods pre and post harvest, principles and practices in cooling, storage, transportation and packaging. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab This course carries an additional charge of $48.67 to cover the cost of transportation with respect to field trips. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period. Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Hosahalli Ramaswamy	Required
NUTR 207 Nutrition and Health 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Nutrition and Dietetics: Provides students who have a basic biology/chemistry background with the fundamental information on how macronutrients, vitamins and minerals are metabolized in the body, followed by application to evaluate current issues of maximizing health and disease prevention at different stages of the lifecycle. Offered by: Human Nutrition Fall 3 lectures Corequisites: FDSC 230 [for students that have not taken the CEGEP equivalent OOXV]. Prerequisites: AEBI 122 or BIOL 112 or CEGEP equivalent OOXU Restriction: Not open to students who take NUTR 200 or EDKP 292 Restriction: Science students in physical science and psychology programs who wish to take this course should see the Arts and Science Student Affairs Office for permission to register. Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Linda J Wykes	Required
FDSC 540 Sensory Evaluation of Foods 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: Principles and procedures for sensory evaluation of food products, applications of sensory tests, their strengths and weaknesses, factors affecting their responses, data analysis and interpretation of results. Analysis of sensory data in relation to the instrumental analyses will also be emphasized. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall 3 lectures Prerequisite: FDSC 305 or NUTR 346, or permission of the instructor Offered in alternate years Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Amanda Waglay	Required

Term 4 (Winter 2023)

FDSC 315 Separation Tech in Food Anal 1 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: A detailed treatment on the principal chromotographic and electrophoretic techniques that are associated with the analysis of carbohydrate, lipid, protein constituents of food. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite: FDSC 300 or permission of instructor. Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Stephane Bayen	Required
FDSC 319 Food Commodities 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: The relationship between the chemistry of food constituents present in common commodities, such as milk, meat, eggs, cereals, oilseeds etc. and the common processing technologies associated with their transformation into stable food products. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite: FDSC 251 or permission of instructor Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Benjamin K Simpson	Required
FDSC 330 Food Processing 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: The principles and practices of food processing with an emphasis on canning, freezing, and dehydration. A survey of the newer methods of food preservation such as irradiation, reverse osmosis etc. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite: FDSC 251 Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Hosahalli Ramaswamy	Required
FDSC 490 Research Project 1 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: A course designed to give final year undergraduate students research experience. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall or Winter Terms Fall 2024 Winter 2025 Instructors There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year	Required
AGRI 510 Professional Practice 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Agriculture: The ethical issues that face a professional in the workplace; professional ethics and deontology, professional responsibilities as related to the laws of labour, health, safety and risks to the environment, risk management and communication. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Restriction: Course restricted to senior undergraduate and graduate students. Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Yixiang Wang	Required

Term 5 (Fall 2024)

FDSC 405 Food Product Development 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: Fundamental principles of food product development from an innovative concept to the marketplace. Emphasis will be on the application of basic knowledge of food chemistry, food technology and related disciplines in developing new products or improving the existing ones. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall 3 lectures and one 4-hour lab. Pre-/Co-requisite: FDSC 305 or permission of instructor Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Salwa Karboune	Required
FDSC 442 Food Microbiology 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: Topics in Food Microbiology including an overview of the natural flora and microbiological spoilage of food products, methods of control and shelf-life extension, methods of detection and control food-borne pathogens and the use of suitable microorganisms in the production of a variety of food products. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall Prerequisite: MICR 230 or LSCI 230 or permission of instructor. Restriction: Not open to students who have completed MICR 442. Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Mohammad Numan I Asad	Required
BREE 324 Elements of Food Engineering 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Bioresource Engineering: A course in basic food engineering for non-engineering students, covering heat transfer, mass and energy balances, food process unit operations, material transport/ steam/refrigeration systems. Offered by: Bioresource Engineering Two 1.5-hour lectures and one 3-hour lab per week Restriction: Not open to students in any of the B.Eng.(Bioresource) programs. Restriction: Not open to students who have taken BREE 325. Corequisite: FDSC 330 Terms Fall 2024 Instructors Michael O Ngadi	Required
FDSC 495 Course not available	Required
FDSC 491 Research Project 2 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: A laboratory research project. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall or Winter Pre-/Co-requisite: FDSC 490 Restriction: Registration by Department permission only. Terms Fall 2024 Winter 2025 Instructors There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year	Required
FDSC 520 Biophysical Chemistry of Food 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: This course will cover recent advances in the application of spectroscopic techniques, including infrared, Raman, near-infrared, circular dichroism, and fluorescence spectroscopy, to the study of biomolecules of relevance to food. Particular emphasis will be placed on the molecular basis of structure-function and structure-functionality relationships. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Fall 3 lectures Prerequisite: FDSC 233 Course offered in odd years. Check with Graduate Program Supervisor. Terms This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year Instructors There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year	Required

Term 6 (Winter 2025)

FDSC 400 Food Packaging 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: An integrated approach to the materials used for the packaging of food products, considering the physical, chemical and functional characteristics of such materials and their utility, relative to the chemistry of the food system they are designed to enclose and preserve. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab Prerequisite: FDSC 305 This course carries an additional charge of $52.69 to cover the cost of transportation with respect to field trips. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period. Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Yixiang Wang	Required
FDSC 516 Flavour Chemistry 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: The chemistry of the flavour constituents of foods, thermal and enzymatic generation, mechanistic pathways of formation, analysis synthesis and applications in food. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures Prerequisite: FDSC 305 or permission of instructor Restriction: Not open to students who have taken FDSC 410 Terms Winter 2025 Instructors Varoujan Yaylayan	Required
FDSC 525 Food Quality Assurance 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: The principles and practices required for the development, maintenance and monitoring of systems for food quality and food safety. The concepts and practices of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point; ISO 9000; Total Quality Management; Statistical Sampling Plans, Statistical Process Control; Tools of Quality; Government Regulations. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures Prerequisite: AEMA 310 or permission of instructor Restriction: Not open to students who have taken FDSC 425 Terms Winter 2025 Instructors There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year	Required
FDSC 495 Course not available	Required
FDSC 515 Enzymology 3 Credits Offered in the: Fall Winter Summer Food Science: Selected advanced topics on the biophysical and kinetic aspects of enzymatic reactions, particularly the fundamentals and applications of laws of biothermodynamics, biochemical equilibrium, electrochemistry and biochemical kinetics as related to the enzymatic reactions. Offered by: Food Science&Agr.Chemistry Winter 3 lectures Prerequisites: FDSC 211 or LSCI 211 and FDSC 233 or permission of instructor Course offered in even years. Check with Graduate Program Supervisor. Terms This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year Instructors There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year	Required